Ryan Shultz puts his hands on his head in frustration.
Whatever chance Bravo’s Work of Art had to make the public better versed in art circled the bowl last night in “The Shape of Things To Come”. That education largely hangs on the judges and Bravo’s editing of the show, and neither did much to illuminate what was and wasn’t good. The problems stemmed from the show’s choice of top and bottom six contestants this week, which past being incorrect, offered very little sensible rationale for the decisions being made.
Mixed media refuse virtuoso Jon Kessler was this week’s guest host – not my favorite artist in the world, but at least a credible one. Contestants were asked to rummage through a junk heap and come up with a work of art from the materials they found.
During the trip, young Miles Mendenhall complained he wasn’t sleeping well, and that his OCD did not like junk, so he took a nap on the cement floor of the dump. Admittedly this act has limited “oh-how-unique” charm to it (offset by whineyness), but it’s also hard not to see this as being a short term personality-building strategy to ensure Bravo doesn’t eliminate him. His work also didn’t suck this round, which helped. Needless to say he more than survived the cut, winning the competition and earning immunity in the next challenge.
Jaclyn Santos, Transmit, 2010, mixed media
Back at the Bravo workroom, (one of the few studios you’ll ever see with no walls) the artists set to work. Almost all the female contestants make work in heels and fluffy tops, an odd affectation even Project Runway didn’t take on. The men ogle and make “cocking” jokes at sex-pot Jaclyn Santos who spends most of her time in this episode living up to AFC’s Michelle Halabura’s assessment that she “embodies the female bimbo stereotype her art is supposed to be fighting.” She gets glue in her hair and freaks out, when she can’t figure out how to build her aquarium, she plays the victim to solicit advice, and as almost anyone could have been predicted her work is beyond stupid. A former Jeff Koons assistant, Santos made a poor imitation of his aquarium work by building a unit she will fill with water and sink a TV. The aquarium leaked so she put her TV in a bag of water.
No offense to Ms. Santos, but this piece of crap is amongst the worst work to spin out of Bravo’s studios, which frankly is saying a lot. And yet Ms. Santos mysteriously not only remains on the show, but did not even rank in the bottom three. With decisions like this being made, it’s hard to not think someone decided the value of a cock joke factored into the rationale for keeping her in the competition.
Trong Nguyen, What would Tom Friedman Do?, Mixed media, 2009
Of course, maybe it made the judges “feel” something, a non-existent standard of art evaluation Bravo’s pedaling through China Chow each week. You know a contestant’s doomed whenever those ridiculous words are uttered, Trong Nguyen being the latest causality. Nguyen’s constellation of painted televisions with text wasn’t particularly strong, the scrawl “I hate reality tv” so overstated it rendered the rest of his phrases mute, but it didn’t deserve elimination. It didn’t help that critic Jerry Saltz took issue with the text “Up Next…WWTFD”, an acronym for “What would Tom Friedman do”. Saltz went so far as to ask him who the artist was, his point being that the work wasn’t made for a general audience (or to his taste).
Editing would have audiences believe the critic wasn’t aware of Friedman’s work, another Bravo misstep as all opportunities to talk about homage, quotation and reference in art were totally missed. Notably, this was not the case in Project Runway, where judges regularly noted influence and reference. They also complained if designers made work too obviously influenced by better known designers. Season One’s Missoni inspired swimsuit causing Alexandra Vidal’s elimination provides a worthy example.
Abdi Farah, Tube, 2009, Mixed media
Unfortunately Nguyen’s work wasn’t my favorite either, but at least it said something, which is far more than can be said of much of the other work. I’m guessing the fact that he created a work intending to poke holes in the show’s promise to find great talent did more to damage the work than the concept itself. Speaking of these large promises, I have to wonder if it’s a coincidence that Abdi Farah, an artist who has expressed his deep belief in the show’s promise to launch his career, has made it into the top three two weeks in a row, despite having made nothing good. As I tweeted last night, “Why isn’t the message of this show “No TV’s for heads!”
Possibly though, only the judges come to the conclusions we see on the show, which if true, gives me great pause for the level of discussion that has to be occurring. For the sake of thoroughness, here’s a brief run down of the results I think more accurately reflect the work.
ARTISTS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE TOP THREE
Peregrine Honig, A Conversation Between a Widow and Herself, 2009, Mixed media
Cudos to Honig for making her televisions work and creating a piece that’s understated and intimate. To my mind this is the winning piece.
John Parot, New Stock, 2009, Mixed media
I’m not sure there’s any great meaning to this piece, but it’s pretty funny. I like that Parot went so far as to create aesthetized caution signs for his repackaged garbage.
ON MILES MENDENHALL
Miles Mendenhall, Worst place, 2010, mixed media
Contrary to the judges opinion on this, Miles Mendenhall would have done much better in my books if he’d stayed off his bed of nails fiberglass. It’s a well executed project, but who needs to see another person sleeping in a gallery? We just saw this at Younger Than Jesus thanks to Chu Yun and I didn’t like that execution either.
ARTISTS THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN IN THE BOTTOM THREE
Jaime Lynn Henderson, Death of the Family Appliances, 2010, Mixed media
Trong Nguyen, Jaime Lynn Henderson, and Judith Braun. I’ll add to this, that while Henderson’s piece was a little too interior design-y, I thought her decision to paint the lamp with the colors of the painting, and create a spot on the floor that the vacuum cleaner could have run through was well done. If she hadn’t overdone the piece I doubt she’d have any trouble at all.
ARTISTS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BOTTOM THREE
Jaclyn Santos, Transmit, 2010, mixed media
Right?
Erik Johnson, Untitled, 2010.
What is this? It’s a parody of itself.
Ryan Shultz, Zebra Vacuum Spiral, 2010, mixed media
The formless pile of junk. Talk about a work of art that “doesn’t work”. Also, any reference to John Chamberlain is misguided in my books. Fail.
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I am thoroughly enjoying the show and find the quality of the art and judges quite high.
It also seems to me that Trong is a sore loser.
I thought his piece lacked thought and was poorly executed compared to the other work.Move on Trong.
I think this show allows what insider art lacks to provide the public. The snobbery in the art world makes it very intimidating to the general public, this show allows it to become intimate, right in the viewers home – to make their own decisions. I think the show deserves a little bit more respect and reflection, before anyone’s noses poke up too high in the air…
@Vinness: Thank you! I must have been thinking of “Jenny from the block…” So, AFC’s milkshake brings Jenny from the block, and the boys to the yard.
I’m really enjoying Paddy’s commentary as a complement to the show. For the sake of drama we are not given access to the substance of the critique, which is disappointing. Of course, they can’t let the guy, who says he hates reality tv make it to the next round. Trong, Peregrine: How many hours were you given to make the work?
- Although Miles is an amazing artist, he still bugs the hell out of me. Am I the only person who doesn’t think that he actually has OCD?
I know several people with OCD and it is often quite debilitating. There is no way that he could be on a reality TV show and manage to make the things he has with that illness. After the show is done airing I bet he’ll blog about how the OCD business was some kind of performance piece!
– Also, I don’t think that it was fair to send Trong home. When seeing the show I couldn’t help but think that most of the art was terrible. I thought two of the worst pieces were done by Nicole and Abdi, who were both in the top 3!!!
Abdi was probably picked because stupid TV audiences like cliches – a TV head, seriously? Nicole was probably picked because of her aunt.
this show is horrible. the “here’s some shit, make something” aspect makes me so angry. the criticism is sub-par at best. i feel like jerry gets less face time than some of the other judges like bill powers, just because powers makes more absurd or shocking observations. I think if anyone from middle america is watching this they must be thinking that artists are all wacky, defective, or just fucked up. I would have to say that this show might make the art world even more insular, using this dumbed-down version of what “Art” is as a catalyst.
i will say jon kessler, was interesting to see on the show. that was probably the only thing that made sense this last episode, yet no one really made anything that was kinetic. trong’s “what would tom friedman do?” joke was pretty lame. i’m guessing friedman wouldn’t phone it in by painting 4 tv’s and calling it a day. Lame.
@nancy, you are not alone. I call it FauxCD.
i am really enjoying the discussion and criticism. having trong comment here and offer insight into what happened and explain his work is fantastic. when reality judges make such poor decisions, like eliminating trong, it makes me not want to watch any more. it ruins the whole show for me. of course, i’m going to watch it until the end. looking forward to more, thanks paddy.
AFC…Elyse Sewell from Top Model…so great. Anyone, if you haven’t watched her rants on youtube…do!….
BETH: Yeah, “reality tv” meets “blogoshpere”! … more parallel universes… BUT…just FYI….the Judges have Bravo blogs, and us contestants are blocked from commenting on them. They need protection …because they get paid!
Same subj: I find the pre-dawn instant RECAP by JS in nymag like a desperate preemption of the show.
AFC: Reading all this…and biting my tongue. I wrote Bravo the other day saying, “I’m being cool, but I’m not on ice”. :-)
SAM: Anytime! Friend me!
LIZZIE: Agree, not one artist on the panel?
But…tho I went in with my eyes open to play a game….it was beyond disheartening to witness the way Trong was sent home….
ok, biting tongue…ouch!
Judith, thanks for the additional inside scoop in reply to my questions to Trong. It’s interesting how they allow all of the contestants some degree of free reign to provide background commentary on outside blogs but not on Bravo’s judges’ blogs. I’d imagine you are all having to do a bit of a dance around the line that Bravo has drawn that determines what you are allowed to divulge (opinion-wise, obviously not results-wise). Appreciate your candor so far.
BETH….you got it. Walking a line….but I have to accept that this is the dotted line I signed on. It’s hard… but I’m trying to let it go to have a life of its own. I don’t think I’m doing a great job at that!!! …but that’s my more lofty intention. My impulsive self wants to jump in and correct and fill in everything! urrrgh…. Then I realize that in “real-ality”…it will all be gone and forgotten soon!
I’m not doing a blog because, guess what…. I have ART to make!!! :-))
I like the show. Think it’s entertaining. Not sure why anyone would think too deeply about it, or get too concerned with what the judges think. Art can’t really be measured in episodic, reality TV terms, so just enjoy the show for what it is or don’t watch it.
Waaah! I had hoped Trong would be on the show for longer. Am enjoying Abdi's enthusiasm and earnestness. His TV head game-boy actually had a point of view, even though not a terribly original one. He is 22! Hoping that Nao and Judith will start to "Bring it". Loved Nicole's TV tomb and Ryan's bed sans sleep stunt. He literally poisoned every one though by working with toxic materials in the studio. I wish we had gotten to see more of John's piece! Also, thought Jamie's piece held up. Then, I heard the comment about how she just placed the objects with out transforming – and agreed with that. I love this show! And, I don't watch tv normally. I thought I would hate it, but it is neat watching the different personalities emerge as the artists make work in a studio together.
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