Used Cars

My thoughts on the most recent episode of Bravo's Work of Art, spoilers included.

This week's challenge was this year's automobile sponsor crossover episode, where the major sponsor's product becomes part of the competition. The contestants arrived in the gallery to find a completely disassembled car, laid out in very organized arrangements, and were given 15 minutes to stuff whatever they wanted into little carts, which were then hauled up to the studio. The gang didn't look as excited as they sometimes do, as it seemed that none of them had any particular ideas at the start. Back at the studio they started going through their piles, and trying random combinations and arrangements until something clicked. Some got to that point sooner than others. For example, Sarah K had grabbed the car's front seats. Almost immediately (on the show anyway) she decided to remove the upholstery as one piece, almost like an animal's skin being pulled off a carcass. Laying them out flat, she realized they were interesting shapes, so just attached them to a white backing board. Popped in a frame, it was done. On the other hand, Sara J started playing with the cottony stuffing from another seat, and without really having a plan, starts gluing hunks of it together, long segments forming from the central core. Seeing something from these shapes, she continued the process, having them come out of the exhaust pipe (muffler still attached), forming what could be a stylized flower, flame, or crystal formation. These two ended up in the top two, with Sara J taking the top prize, which for the fourth time this season included a large wad of cash. (we need to get some kind of sponsorship deal for our critique group)

The others generally followed these two paths at the start, some quickly getting an idea, some struggling to find something good in their junk pile. Then Simon walked in for his mentoring session. At some point the judges should sit down with the contestants and make sure that they understand that Simon's advice is dubious at best and should not necessarily be taken seriously. He complained that a number of them were not making enough use of the materials, which reminded me of his rant several weeks ago during the movement theme that no one had enough parkour in their work to suit him. Michelle showed a large installation she was forming, which he shot down instantly, leading her to make something more comfortable. Her Disney-ish car front was her ticket home, while her original piece probably would have gotten her through to the next week.

Of the rest of the work, Young used a cluster of wiring to form the guts of a robot like form that probably had more presence in person than on tv. Dusty worked on an early idea for a while, but had already lost confidence in the result before Simon came around. Near the end he got an idea to cut out letters, attach them to the road surface of a tire, and use it to print a repeated message. Two perfunctory pieces, two safe artists for the week.

The elimination three included Michelle, Kymia, and Lola, two who have won some weeks, and one who inexplicably remains a favorite of the judges despite showing the least amount of skills of anyone remaining. In his blog, judge Jerry Saltz admitted to freaking out at the thought of sending one home, trying to convince the others to eliminate one of the safe guys, or to just let everyone through. Not because of the quality of the art they made this time, but because he just personally liked the women. Off camera, the producers basically had to sit him down and tell him to do his job. Lola did one of her usual strategies, combine a bad tracing, some random objects that didn't work out, and some random text. A mess, but the judges are still convinced that she's one of the top artists, so they won't send her home. Kymia's piece was a mess from the start, and broke during the gallery show, but based on her success through the first several weeks, they decided to spare her, so Michelle was eliminated.

No image from me today, because the last time that I let the materials dictate the artwork was maybe some found object sculptures from my 3D foundations class back in 1987. My art starts with an idea, and then I come up with the medium and materials to make it happen. I consider any other approach to be a compromise at best.