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Monday, July 26, 2010
10:00 am
42 Comments
…or the actual title for this week’s episode, “Child’s Play.”
Welcome back, ‘Gasmii! Are you ready to rumble? And by “rumble”, I mean, “Read what one dummy has to say about a reality competition show about commercial art?”
We really felt the tension last week on Work of Art with Erik’s implosion and departure. The art sucked, the drama was high, and I’m movin’ on.
I happened to catch this when I hit “pause” during my recapping. Jaclyn drew boobs on herself. Normally it flashes by so quickly, you don’t see it. NOW YOU DO.
It’s morning at the Beaverhausen. Abdi’s prayin’, Jaclyn’s cuttin’ up an apple, Ryan is nappin’, and Mark is journalin’ or doodlin’ or something. Who knows. “Dear diary. I speak matter of factly about others in a pissy way. Could it be that I’m that confident? Or is my confidence masking my insecurity? Also, I like Nicole, but she likes Miles. I don’t like Miles. He sucks.”
Actually, Mark does talk a little smack about Miles, again with the suggestion that Miles is acting one way with the artists and another way for the cameras. “Whatever,” Mark smirks. Then we cut to Kevin McAllister himself, waking up to a camera in his face. He’s jonesing for some corn flakes (and can’t open the inner bag), and breathing a sigh of relief about Erik’s departure. I bet he’ll breathe even more easily once Mark’s sour puss is out of the way. Don’t worry, I don’t think that’s far off.
Abdi suggests that they all head up to the roof for breakfast, maybe break the tension a little bit and enjoy their surroundings. He also hopes that they’ll get back to the art sometime soon. The gang does seem way less uptight as they head up to the roof. Peregrine’s overdone with another quirky hat AND patterned tights AND vintage heels AND a loud scarf AND a loud coat, but she’s that impish little artist chick who can get away with it. If I tried that, someone’d call the authorities and have me committed to the psych ward. I do my best in bland GAP duds. Seriously, I’m six feet tall with strawberry blonde hair–I already stick out as it is. A little of me goes a long way.
Ryan and Abdi get to chatting up there on the roof, while enjoying the view. Ryan’s in awe of the fact that Abdi’s moved around a lot, all around the East coast. Ryan’s only ever lived in the suburbs of Chicago. In his interview shots, Ryan tells us about growing up a Jehovah’s Witness. He kindly explains it as a super strict version of Christianity. I see his description and raise him one “it’s crazy.” Sorry, but it’s kinda true. No birthdays, no holidays, Harry Potter is Satan, etc. I have a coworker who keeps me informed on what’s up with JW. Family, too. I’m not a fan. If “Jehovah’s Witness” were a group on Facebook, I would not “like” them. Anyway, Ryan’s no longer a JW, and it’s really put a strain on his relationship with his mother. He’s basically an outcast. (I had to try really hard there to not spell it “Outkast”.)
Also a witness.
Nicole comments that “there’s so little of us in this room right now”. The editor in me stiffens at the awful grammar of that sentence. Individual people are quantifiable, so it’s “few”, not “less” or “little”. “There are so few of us in this room right now.” I know, it sounds so stuffy, but it’s CORRECT. Nothing is sexier than correct grammar, I have to say. (And responsibility. And recycling.) (Off my soapbox now.)
Anyway, Simon interrupts my grammar lesson by striding up to the gang with a cheery, “Hello, artists!” He announces that the artists will be following him to a museum to see the work of fresh artists who will inspire generations of artists to come. Or something like that. Again, Nicole reminds me of me when she shouts, “YAY!!!!” I love the exuberance. Later, she explains to us that artists like being around art. DOY. Thanks, Nicole!
Simon leads the troops into the subway, and they emerge in SoHo. He’s giving a guided tour of the art scene, which is pretty cool. I’d love to do a walking tour of NYC with an art nerd, getting a ground-level view and insider scoop.
Where do they end up? The Children’s Museum of the Arts. Nicole and her maroon-tights-under-camoflage shorts let out another “YAY!”. Jaclyn has a tight smile, and Miles looks spooked. China’s inside, and she asks the artists to sit at teeny tables with teeny chairs. Their challenge is to create a piece of art that shows the evolution of their art–what from their childhood inspires their art today. What’s more, they need to use the materials available at the Children’s Museum and must also work at these teeny little tables.
I almost think this is posed, but Ryan’s “duh” face ruins that idea. But aren’t they all so “them” in this photo?
Nicole looks nervous at first, but then seems excited. Abdi seems worried, saying he hasn’t worked with these materials in years. Isn’t he an art teacher?? The smile on Jaclyn’s face is gone, and Ryan seems somber. Miles is biting the skin inside his cheeks as his legs tap wildly. He tells us that he feels like he’s going to throw up and sneeze at the same time. (Isn’t that an orgasm?) He’s really freaked because he can’t rely on his usual carpentry and screenprinting. He doesn’t want to go home for not knowing how to work with popsicle sticks. Oh, c’mon. Part of life and art is versatility. Chin up!
The gang gets to work, attacking the supply wall with fits of nostalgia. There’s macaroni and pompoms and pipe cleaners and colored pencils and tempura paint, and there’re even potatoes there (to make printing blocks, right?). Ryan’s experimenting with drawing with his left hand, to try to connect with how he drew as a child. He jokes that the judges will probably mock their art when the artists are likely to feel really childlike and exposed about it. Mark mocks the judges in a gruff voice, joking that they’ll critique the artists for not referencing art history. You can hear Nicole off-camera saying, “This IS art history.” And Mark says, “This is OUR art history.” And maybe it’s PMS, but I get a little teary at this. It IS their art history. Hokey as that sounds! *wiping tears* *grabbing tampon*
(Sorry, TMI.)
What I like about this show now is that we’re down to seven artists, and that means we get to know each artist a little better. We see more of the actual art-making process, too, which is cool. THIS is what I wanted to see, not random quick-cuts of people I don’t know running around and looking at each other. And surprisingly, we’re not getting as much Miles this week. There’s more of a balance. THANK YOU.
Speaking of, we learn more about Nicole. As we heard before, she’s a twin. Her twin sister, Corrine, is an art therapist for children, so this type of stuff is her daily bread and butter. (And I get a little worried, thinking Nicole’s a ringer for this challenge.) Nicole tells us about her childhood art experiences, where she’d bring stuff to show her dad and he’d tell her it wasn’t great. Way to be an asshole, DAD. Anyway, she tells us her ideas for the challenge, which is to cut up these little styrofoam trays that the kids probably use as pallets and make them into frames that she’ll layer up to share her story.
Abdi’s making faces in the mirror and sketching, while telling us about his home life growing up. His father wasn’t around, and his mom raised him alone. So his project starts off as a comic book page, with Mom as a superhero and her little protoge, Abdi, is standing behind her. That’s really sweet, and I hope it’s also visually interesting and deep enough to make the judges happy. Abdi’s been slipping, though, I think. I like his potential, but something’s off–he’s not connecting to the challenges somehow.
Miles and Nicole discuss her piece. Miles is telling her to go deeper (that’s what she said), that she needs more (also what she said!). Speaking of Miles, he declares that the key to this show is making the challenges work for your art, and not the other way around. I actually think that’s a valid statement!
However, in his next breath, he tells us that he’s going to recreate something from pieces he made about nine months ago. “Even though my piece isn’t reminiscent of my childhood, I feel good about it.” Okay, now I call bullshit. He isn’t even trying to come up with a story to make the challenge work with his piece—he’s totally copping out. I’m shaking my head and sighing as I type this. Obviously, he knows that it’ll take a bigger fuck-up than this for him to be eliminated. He knows the judges are on his side, even when he doesn’t even do what he was supposed to do.
Miles had to nap! Imagine that!
Jaclyn’s really not doing well with this challenge so far. She keeps pacing in front of the supply wall, but nothing’s coming to her. In her interview, she tells us of her childhood isolation, that she ate her lunch in the bathroom and otherwise felt very alone. (Why?) She later tells us her childhood wasn’t the best. Again, why? In the absence of information, we’re all gonna make up the worst story for this, so she might as well tell us, right? No privacy in reality TV, hon!
Ryan’s sitting in the ball pit, still working on his concept. Nicole’s struggling with making good cuts in her Styrofoam boards, since the children’s art supplies don’t include Xacto blades.
Mark shares with us his memories of his childhood. He grew up in a small town without a lot of money, so he made art with what he had—White-out, stolen pens, and masking tape. To honor those memories, he’s making a children’s book to tell his story of how he became the matter-of-fact arse he is today. Thing is, I think his piece is also not quite meeting the challenge. It is literally too literal.
Peregrine tells us of her own childhood, as we’re shown drawings she did as a child. Drawings of people having sex, drawings of people’s sexual anatomy. Hey, a girl after my own heart! (I, too, have a history of an oversexualized childhood. But not in a bad way! I think I just learned about baby-making a little too early and was too curious about it. And still am!) Peregrine was raised in an artists’ commune in San Francisco, so she was exposed to drugs and sex and other adult matters when she was young. She sounds like she appreciates the experience, but she also sounds a little resigned about it.
So her piece is going to honor this hyper-sexualized, drugged out childhood with a My Little Pony sculpture coated in sex ads from a free weekly city paper. (was it, like, by the front door of the children’s museum or something?) She’ll surround the pony with drug and sex paraphernalia and call it a day. It’s kinda sad, and Peregrine seems sad. (But I laugh when she’s poking a finger into her pony’s ass. I think it’s because she’s making space for the tail to anchor in, but it looks like she’s massaging its prostate a bit.)
Speaking of sad, we check in with Ryan. He’s drawing with his non-dominant hand to get a feel for his child-era art talent. He’s really connecting emotionally with this challenge—it’s reminding him of when he was a dutifully religious child and close to his mom, and she said he should keep up with his art so he could do [these] illustrations one day. (These, meaning…bible school story books?) He explains, in a halting, choked-up way, that he knows his mom still loves him to death, but she keeps him at arm’s length because she doesn’t agree with his life choices. I want to give Ryan a big hug. I also want to whisper in his ear that his current project direction isn’t going to work, sob story or not.
It better not be another self-portrait, you narcissist!
Time for a break! The gang heads down to the ball pit for a little release. (That’s what HE said!) Miles is a little hesitant because of the germs that are likely to be coating every square inch of those balls. Nicole shoves him in anyway, and then she kicks at the ball he’s draped across. Flirting! Miles wants to take Nicole on a date, and he’s cute when he says “there would probably be a tree-fort involved…and Christmas lights.” Aww.
Simon comes through for a little mentoring. He starts with Ryan, who explains that he’s trying to draw as though he’s a child. Simon, rightfully, questions Ryan’s interpretation of the challenge and tells him it ain’t too special. Get back to work. Same crit basically goes to Jaclyn and Abdi. Those three are struggling with understanding the challenge AND making their art work with the inspiration. To their credit, all three take Simon’s advice and embark on different projects to try to do better. Nicole thinks those three are idiots to have initially understood the challenge in a way that meant they should create childlike artwork. Meanwhile, take a look at the stuff sitting around that museum/workspace. Those kids are actually pretty awesome! That’s all these contestants need to do—check out what’s around them.
Ew, not that.
Miles and Simon examine Miles’ piece. Simon asks how it references his childhood and the inspiration from the challenge. Miles says his childhood’s not in it at all, that nothing from his childhood worked for the challenge. Simon digs deeper, asking if Miles considers himself to be an artist. Miles hedges, that he doesn’t consider himself NOT an artist, but… We don’t hear the end of the conversation, because Mark starts bitching about Miles not being genuine, recycling old bullshit art and getting away with not doing the challenge.
Jaclyn’s apparently working on a triptych of Mr. Hankie portraits. She explains her concept to Simon, that as a child, she liked painting things and then folding the paper in half to see the abstraction that occurred. Simon thinks it looks awful and says so. He asks about her pipe cleaners she was playing with earlier, thinking they’re at least better to look at. Jaclyn’s obviously directionless, and she tells us that it’s hard for her to open up. Which actually fits with someone who’d so willingly show off her breasts. It’s a lot easier to be physically naked than to be emotionally naked.
Simon’s peacing out, but before he does, he tells the artists that they all suck so far (no, really!), and that from here on out, there’s no more immunity for any of them, in any challenge. Everyone makes an “O” face.
(But not this kind.)
(Is it me, or do you think Jaime Lynn would have done really well in this challenge? And Erik would have probably exploded?)
More bullshit in the art room—Abdi’s now going in a new direction, asking the other artists for ideas of what people used to ask them draw when they were kids. Jaclyn is messing around with the pipe cleaners and pompoms, but it seems just as unfocused as before. Ryan’s tearing up construction paper, trying to add more layers of meaning to his piece. Later, he’ll comment that he is carefully disheveling the crumpled paper like he does to his own hair. Smirk!
Miles thought Simon wasn’t impressed with his piece, so he’s trying to add some color in the form of rubber band balls. As he sits, making balls of red, yellow, and blue rubber bands, Ryan watches and interviews to tell us that he just realized that Miles is sort of a douche. He hates that Miles is taking this challenge so lightly, farting around with rubber band balls. And I’m guessing Ryan’s upset because he’s having such an emotional connection to his own piece but isn’t really getting anywhere with it in a mature and visually interesting way. So…jealous.
It’s midnight, and they all head back to the Beaverhausen. Mark and Ryan are chatting in the kitchen over a piece of pizza. Mark tells Ryan he looks stoned and drunk, and Ryan says, “I look like I’m DEAD.” And he really does! So exhausted and emotionally gutted. Ryan has a smoke and then heads to bed, saying that art is like wine—you make some, and then you go to bed and see what you get in the AM: great wine? Or vinegar.
Jaclyn finally comes up with an idea she connects with: a Rorschact-looking tree spanning two canvasses, with a string of pipe cleaners and pompoms hanging from it for whimsy. She enjoyed climbing trees as a child, felt safe there, and wants to bring that into her work. Miles thinks it looks cold and horribly uninviting. He says it makes him want to put on a warm coat, galoshes, and mittens (way over-pronouncing mittens in a way that makes me feel like he KNOWS he said something sound-byte-y).
In the “We’re back! No, we’re not!” segment this week, Simon arrives at the children’s museum with brown-bagged snacks for the artists. It’s adorable. They each get a tiny juicebox and an apple, and maybe some crackers. Miles jokes, “A porn magazine? Simon…!” He also bounces as he chews, which is cute. I want to like Miles, and stuff like this helps.
Finally, time for the gallery show. We have our friends Jerry Saltz, crab-ass that he is, and Bill Powers, who says “hello!” this week! YAY! Back to normal. Puppet-mouth Jeanne is curating a show “in Europe” (must be a big show to encompass the whole continent!), so she’s not here. The guest judge this week is Will Cotton, who receives extremely tepid applause from the artists. I mean, sure, there are only seven of them there, but can’t they muster up a little clapping energy for the poor guy? They all seem to know of him and speak highly of his work, so I’d think he’d get more of a positive response! I liked the pieces of his that they showed, so I Googled him. There’s nothing really exciting to know about Mr. Cotton, except that he was art director or something on Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” video. Yay. Tepid applause from me.
China–again with the versatile hair!
We visit each artist’s piece with the judges. There’s Abdi’s sketches of childhood touchstones (Mighty Ducks emblem, the Nike swoosh, a baseball hat, etc.). He calls it “Straight Line”, because when he was a kid, other kids would say, “Man, I can’t even draw a straight line.” The judges are kinda “eh” about his piece.
They seem to love Peregrine’s piece, though. Will Cotton and Jerry are checking it out, and Will loves it. He says it was the unicorn he always wanted to make. Jerry’s like, “I thought that was a girl thing, you homo.” (Who knows if Will is gay or not, it was just a totally sexist/homophobic-esque thing to say.) Will’s like, “Back off, bitch, I liked to draw horses when I was a kid.” Jerry saves it for me, though, by saying, “I liked to draw trolls.” LOL
Peregrine says, “So…Tetris,” to Miles about his piece. They both collapse into giggles. Jaclyn tells us that this cold tree painting tells us more about her than we realize. Nicole’s pretty self-satisfied with her piece. The judges think Mark’s book shows a side of him they haven’t seen before. And Ryan tells the gallery visitors that his piece made him cry.
Ryan’s
Whose is this obvious, literal work??
Jaclyn’s
Nicole’s
Miles’, sans primary colored rubber band balls
All right, get out, gallery peeps. Time for crit.
Nicole and Miles look like brother and sister.
(I hope they get some blood work done to check that out before they go makin’ babies.)
Abdi, Nicole, Peregrine, Ryan, and Jaclyn all got chosen for crit. Miles and Mark are safe and get to scram. Meanwhile, I’m really thinking that if immunity is no longer on the line, and there’re only seven of them anyway, why NOT crit the whole group? It only seems fair. I also speculate that had Miles or Mark been critiqued, both would have been exposed for not completing the assignment in the assigned way.
Ryan’s crit is first. He’s explaining the emotion of the piece, how it got here to the gallery from his original idea. Will Cotton’s making a stinky face, and he says, “Great, yes, it was emotional, but how you communicate that emotion is what makes art.” What’s unspoken is that he doesn’t think Ryan created art here. Ryan blathers some more, and I feel bad for the guy, because he’s about to get slammed about something that was very personal, but…he deserves it. His piece is a bunch of child’s drawings taped to a wall and/or bunched up on the floor. So what?
Peregrine’s piece is next. She explains to us all that her childhood among the artists’ community in San Francisco was great, was druggy, was loose…and that ultimately, she lost a lot of friends to AIDS. She gets choked up as she tells the story of the piece, the My Little Pony amongst the party detritus, and the other contestants and judges are sad-eyed, too. I know it’s the PMS talking, but I get teary-eyed as she speaks. The judges love the piece. Jerry calls it “a song of innocence and a song of experience side by side.”
“Mommy, mommy! *I* want to do drugs, too! Just like My Pretty Pony!”
We hear from Jaclyn next. She explains the safety and comfort of trees for her as a child. Jerry’s like, “That’s great and all, and Imma let you finish, but this piece says none of that.” Bill concurs. He feels that the piece is dead—it doesn’t tell a story, and it doesn’t evoke any emotion at all. There’s no risk in it. Jaclyn huddles into herself and her enormous beret. Will Cotton ends her crit with very sage advice: Don’t make art for others to relate to; make art that YOU relate to.
Nicole’s piece is up next. It’s clever, and the stacking of the trays is kinda visually interesting, but I generally have a problem with a lot of Nicole’s art. She has great concepts and arranges things in unique ways, but it’s usually really boring to look at once you see ALL of it. It’s bland. I’m not saying all art needs to be a huge pop of bold color, but… I don’t know, something about it makes me feel “eh”. Jerry loves it, as does Will. They love that it’s not obvious, that there’s mystery. Bill calls it compelling, because it invites the viewer in to seek the meaning. I guess that’s true. I guess I suck at looking at art.
And Nicole sucks at having a good hair style. Also, didn’t it look to you at first like she was giving the finger to her piece??
The last crit is Abdi. His bazillion sketches on the wall are not successful. Jerry hates it because it doesn’t show them “Abdi” at all (true). Will asks Abdii to point out a few of the sketches that really resonate for HIM, which are the Superman logo, the Mighty Ducks logo, and the crouching Spider-man figure. Will offers to Abdi that his piece suffers from a lack of editing—that it’s much stronger if he were to select only a few poignant doodles to share. Abdi looks terrified.
It’s funny—as the artists head back to wait for their judgment, Peregrine comments on how difficult the challenge was. Ryan and Jaclyn agree, and I’m guessing that all of them are just totally wiped out emotionally. They all really put thought and emotion into their pieces, even if they weren’t necessarily executed that successfully (Jackie and Ryan). Abdi agrees with them, too, but for him, I think he feels it was tough because he couldn’t come up with a successful piece. So, really, there was none of Abdi in the work he created. I really wish he’d stuck with the comic book panel with his mom. Sure, it was trite and had been done, but it was HIM.
The judges discuss it all. Peregrine’s was successful for her skilled use of the materials, her sense of scale and color, and because she took a risk. Nicole’s mystery was praised. On the other hand, we all know what was wrong with Ryan, Abdi, and Jaclyn. P.S. Jerry pronounces it “Obdi.” And that bothers me.
So, who won? Oh, it’s Peregrine! Again, with my tears! Will Cotton tells her “it’s not often that I see a piece of art that I wish I’d made myself.” How cool! I’m so glad she won. I got a weird vibe from her at the start, but in every challenge, she’s shown herself to be interesting without being contrived, and she seems to be a good sport about most things. And this piece really was a winner. I’m so glad for her. Nicole’s a gracious runner-up.
And who’s going home? As Abdi, Ryan, and Jaclyn stand before the judges, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Ryan. Each judge delivers their stupid scripted line about why the artist’s work of art didn’t work for them, and then China says Abdi’s name. I just about shit my pants, and Abdi seems to, too, but then China says he’s safe. OMFG!! So, now it’s between Jaclyn and Ryan. Well, let’s not prolong this…it’s Ryan. Sigh. He’s sad to leave and thinks Jaclyn should’ve gone home, but he’s also glad to head back to his normal life where he can create his stuff and not have to explain anything about it to anyone.
So, wait, after all these weeks, I have a question about the self-portraits that they take off the wall when they pack their knives and go™. They take them off and put them on an easel, right? And what is that supposed to mean? That they’re not worthy of being hung on a wall, that they’re still a work in progress? And then what? They have the art space cluttered with self-portraits on easels? Here’s the other thing—I noticed that John’s self-portrait is still hung on a wall in the studio. So, do they take the piece off the wall, put it on an easel…and then it gets put back on the wall? DUMB.
Next week brings us another team challenge. It looks like Mark and Peregrine are teamed up, which likely pisses both of them off. Mark asks Peregrine to pose nude, but it looks like she’s got him all lit up in a nude shot, too! With weird cat eyes? Then Simon asks Jaclyn about her piece, and she says, “It’s a private sexual act.” Oh, really? Jaclyn with the sex art? YOU DON’T SAY.
Okay, my mortar friends. What’d you think? Was Ryan’s a worse piece than Jaclyn’s? Was Miles’ piece a cop-out? Did Peregrine deserve the win? What else am I missing?
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42 Comments
Correct me if I am wrong, but I have seen Nicole before on a Brovo show. I think Nicole is the niece of Countess Luanne of the Real House Wives of NY. Nicole is in a few espisodes when she goes clubbing with her Auntie.
I’m glad you noticed the resemblance between Nicole and Miles because in the first episode, before I liked him, and he said she was “intimidatingly good looking” all I thought was “Narcissist. She looks JUST LIKE YOU.” But now I like him, so I don’t mind it.
I don’t think his piece was a cop out, though, because 1) the phrasing of the challenge implied “childhood” but didn’t explicitly say it had to reference your specific childhood 2) he straight up told Simon it had nothing to do with his childhood and referenced work he’d recently done (so there, Mark) and 3) the judges, with only the brief to judge it against, felt it met enough of the criteria of the challenge to be safe. Jerry felt it was dull and middling in his blog, but didn’t have a problem with the back story not being explicitly about his childhood. And, lord knows, if he’s half the lying actor they want him to be, he’d have come up with a doozy of a story. Hell, Ryan, in all his seething jealousy, made up one for Miles that he could have used. If Miles was one of his roommates. And Ryan wasn’t a pissy mean girl.
As for Ryan, I wanted to care about his sob story, but I felt like it was only about 70% true and 30% exaggerated to gin up the pity. The little “Momy” written on one of the panels made me want to hurl. I don’t doubt a lot of what he says is true and has affected him, but for someone who relishes his impoverished lifestyle, he just graduated last year from Northwestern (that cheap little school) with an MFA. Plus, he’s the one who said in the first episode that he “creates to live and lives to create.” How can someone who’s motto is a cliche that should be illustrated with a kitten have any depth?
I was super happy that Peregrine won, and it’s because of what you said. She started off weird but with each week I’m seeing how the “weirdness” is more self-possession and seeing how happy she was when Will Cotton said he wished he’d made her piece just made me happy for her. That Bill Powers looked on the verge of tears when she was talking about her piece, responding to it as a father instead of a dispassionate gallery owner, also made me think she’s really warm and engaging in person.
Okay, Ryan’s art was crap, but I’m gonna defend his sob story. My grandma on my mom’s side is a Jehova’s Witness as she was not supposed to have contact with us unless it was working on converting us over to the dark-side. She’d show up maybe once every year or two, tell all us little kids how we were horrible sinners, and then leave. JW’s are no joke.
I love Peregrine. I’m sure Miles is putting on an act, but it’s a fucking adorable act so I still love him. Nicole is non-annoying and talented (and, okay, kinda hot in a quirky artisty way), and I love Abdi’s work. At this point once Skanky McBoobsinmyface and Fatty McMylifeissohardcauseIflipburgers are gone I’ll be happy with any of the remaining artists taking home the win.
I liked Ryan, but he did deserve to go this week. Boo on Miles for copping out.
Regarding your grammar comment– wow I support you 1000%. Reality TV is my guilty pleasure-despite the horrific grammar, I absolutely love it. Lately though, maybe I’ve just been watching too much and have finally had enough, I’ve been talking to the TV–as if engaged in conversation–to correct the speaker. “I want this so bad!” No. You want this badLY. “You danced so good!” No. You dance well. UGH!
hmmm . . . not that I was ever an artist, but I trained some, and I went through a whole faze of using child media for art–including crayons, so I could not understand why they didn’t just use the materials to do what they would usually do . . . is it me!? Ryan said at the end, he can go back to doing realistic oil paintings like he usually does–Dude, you could have done a realistic water color, crayon piece, or tempra colors . . . whatever. It takes a lot of effort for me to draw something that looks good, so if I’m doing a quick sketch of something, and it looks like Ryan’s art this time, I cringe! (by quick sketch I mean Pictionary esque)
And boy did he look wasted . . .. OMG!!! Kill me if I’m ever that unfocused and wavery–please!
McBoobs piece was not that bad. If she had done a little isolated girl in the tree it would have made more sense with the coldness, but I loved the style of the tree. The string thing, not so much. Hard to take it seriously that she ate in the bathroom, but I guess. A reason would have been good.
Miles should have been read for not even trying, and for redoing previous art (although, I imagine, under the pressure and time restraints, something tried and true would be easier to do than something unknown) Hated the rubber band balls!
Mark’s piece was as immature as Ryan’s. Nicole’s, the whole time I couldn’t help but think that it looked like the styrofoam that’s left from a meat purchase, ie gross!!! Colorless, icky, and one thing you missed, Sexy P, was that she had two paint brushes on one tray she referred to as her and her sister. What a concept! I like her, but her color palate, or lack there of bores me. even her TV grave was dull . . . IMHO . . .
And Peregrino . . . after all that, she makes a lot more sense. Totally, Sexy P, the horse massage, I started to really question what she was going to do to that pony at that point!!! I also couldn’t gauge her feelings about her childhood. She said something like, “My parents left me in the care of people who had many definitions of boundaries” or something like that. She implied sexual abuse if you ask me . . . and who knows what else . . . but very interesting piece on many levels, and I’m glad she opened up. I’m sure our sexualized childhoods would not compare to what she experienced. “shudder”
And that Jerry is a buffoon–he is so hateful of Abdi, it’s not fair to have a biased judge. He was seething with his pointy little mouth, and far, far too harsh! I really think this work is the equivalent of a day in art class, rather than exhibition ready art, and it’s lame that they judge it as the later. Did he really say “you homo” My lawd, if he did, I’m going to his blog to blast him. Frickin’ asswipe!!!
I’m confused, juddfan. In the first paragraph you say the artists should have just used the materials to do what they would usually do, but then you said Miles should have been read for not even trying but…he used the material to do what he usually does. He didn’t recreate a piece he’d already done, he made a piece that resembled the work he’d done recently, plus I don’t think he made the pieces out of poster board and duct tape, so what he did for the challenge was far less detailed or elaborate, and more in keeping with the challenge.
And Jerry didn’t call Will Cotton a “homo,” SP was just riffing on the tone of Jerry’s comments. He questioned why Cotton wanted to make unicorns because they’re a “girl” thing, implying some gay panic but nothing so blunt. Cotton then said he liked to draw horses and then Jerry said he liked to draw trolls.
oh no! He didn’t actually say that! I need to be more obvious when I’m, as Vallegirl said, “riffing”. Oops!
Aaaand I’m laughing because I misspelled “tempera” (paint) as the fried Asian dish, tempura. I’m sure no one noticed, and now you will. And ha!
Great recap, SexyP. Although, you may wanna refrain from calling this ‘commerical art.’ During the crit, Jerry mentioned someones art (I assumed Abdi’s as being to commercial, as it that could be the worst thing on earth. I took him to task on it on his blog:
Hi Jerry,
I hope we have not overwhelmed you with our many responses to this particular episode. I am hoping you are reading this because then you could clarify something for me. When you were discussing Abdi and his work, you called him ‘commercial’ and said it with such disdain as to imply being a commercial art is a bad thing. Certainly much worse than being a fine artist, is what I gathered from the statement. Well, it strikes me as odd because when an artist is given an assignment, a budget, a timeline for completion, and a restriction for the type of materials he can use, is this not the same as art produced for commercial purposes? I work in the film and fashion industries and when an artist, irregardless of his fine art talents, is commissioned to creat a piece, he is restricted in the sense that he is given deadlines, a budget, and is restricted in the materials/media of the work . So Jerry, pray tell, what is the difference? And remember, guest judge Will Cotton may be a brilliant fine artist but that didn’t stop him from creating an album cover for Katy Perry. Is he now considered commercial? or a sellout?
And let’s not forget the Audi experience…even the assignments are commercial! Or commercials, I’m not sure.
His response:
• Dear SARCASATIRE on 07/23/2010 at 4:10am
Thank you for your comments. You say that I called Abdi’s art “commercial.” I do not remember that. I remember calling Mark’s work commercial. You are right these artists are given ‘assignments,’ and material restrictions, time restrictions, etc., etc. You say that makes this “like the commercial world.” You are 100% right.
I suppose what I meant when I used the word “commercial” to describe Mark’s work is that his ideas were conventional; his ideas seemed to have existed before; and that the inner-mark was not coming through in his color, surfaces, compositions, use of materials, scale, subject-matter, formats, etc.
For me art is about having a VISION.
Great commercial art also has vision. Most commercial art is FIRST about selling a product and then VISION.
Vision first in the art world.
And commercial or not: No vision: No art.
I love great commercial art.
Have I gotten myself into even more of a mess?
Thank you,
Jerry Saltz
What do you guys think? Was he just trying to clean it up when he was put on the spot. He never attempted a distinction between great and mediocre commercial art. He just called it commercial, and that was to indicate reason enough as to why it wasn’t good.
Me, I meant that it’s on a reality TV show, and it’s on assignment. That’s all, from my side!
I love great art–fine, commercial, and any other kind, as long as it’s great!
I loved this episode. despite Ryan leaving, whom I like even though he can be a bit of a turd, I thought it was the best so far.
gods, I loved Peregrine’s work, too. it is definitely something I’d like to have in my home. and something that I can relate to very, very much so.
I know you were joking, but I don’t believe Miles is native american, so it’s doubtful he’s related to Nicole.
her feather is so damn cute I’m thinking about copping it for myself. her piece was also very interesting, but you’re right about her stuff being pretty “bland”. I also don’t think that every art piece has to be exploding with color, but I think she could’ve presented it better. how are you supposed to see the things inlayed in the frames if they’re stacked upon one another? I think it would’ve worked better if they had been actually put up individually, or maybe in stacks of three, or something like that. the execution was a little strange to me. and yes, she does look like she’s giving the finger!
oh, and I finally liked one of Jack’s pieces! it was nice to see her stretch herself a bit, and yes, I do think that Ryan’s was the clear loser. I am sad to see him go, because I learned more about him in this episode & I also can relate to having a mother that does not approve about your “lifestyle choices”. luckily my family is not JW, we have our own issues, but I know for a fact that my mom is not a fan of me being a free-spirited artist. and when he said that he could “stop explaining my art”, that kind of broke my heart. one of the reasons why I don’t put my art out there as much as I could is because I don’t want people tearing it apart. I think ALL artists feel that. it’s so close to us that it’s like someone examining your soul, much of the time. and I can’t imagine what it would be like to have millions of people critiquing your art on a reality show. ugh.
what Jerry said is spot-on. true art has vision, commercial or not. I agree with him 100%. and a lot of the artists that got the axe (Mark included), do not have a clear vision of what their message is. that is something that evolves, however, and is difficult to get on demand. which is why the stronger artists have survived, because they know themselves & their art more than the ones that are floundering.
as much as I like Abdi, I also agree that he’s becoming a little lost. I think he had a clear vision at the start & has lost some of it with the critiques & is losing his confidence with every challenge. I hope he pulls out of it soon.
I agree. It really gets my goat when art snobs like Jerry use it as a putdown. I understand these people want to be gallery artists, but if Ryan has on $24 in his bank account, why not take on a few assignments that could then fund your fine art. I don’t see it as selling out, I see it as survival.
On another note, when I was in college (art school, lol) I had a part-time babysitting gig and on rainy days would take my charge to the Children’s Museum. Guess what? It’s not a museum. It’s a glorified playspace with an art-and-crafts nook. Back then, it was $6 admission. Now, they are charging $10 per person over a year old. So, it’s $30 bucks for a mother (or nanny) of two to sit aroind while the toddlers fingerpaint. I guess when it come to art being elitist, it’s best to start young.
Another fact I learned, Peregrine’s art/childhood may have resonated with more than just Bill Powers. I didn’t know this before but China Chow’s mom, Tina, was a patron/friend of many well known artists and also died of AIDS. How sad.. I wondered if they purposely didn’t show her reactions to Peregrine’s work for that reason. I’m sure Bill wasn’t the only one tearing up.
I take Jerry’s explanation at face value. Plus, while he said Abdi’s was “commercial” he also said it was “cliche.” He expanded on it. I’d really hate for every single word choice I make to define my overall opinion of anything, because I like to speak hyperbolically as a joke, so when I say something “sucks so bad it makes me cry,” It’s just me being a jerk to make someone laugh.
With Jerry, he’s clearly not wise to the ways of reality TV and they’re having a field day with making him look both dumber and meaner than I think he is. Then he gets all touchy and insecure on his blog and overexplains himself.
But I don’t have a problem with him not thinking Abdi’s that great an artist. Right now, I don’t think he is. He’s certainly talented and seems like he has the intellectual curiosity that will eventually lead to his work having more depth and thought behind it but right now, it’s all surface. Everything I need to know about Abdi’s work is right there. Even the head-bombs were interesting only in the moment. See it once, understand it. Move on.
Abdi’s a lovely person and I wish him well. I’m sure his mother is very proud of her son because he’s just a bright and sunny individual. But his without knowing him as a person, his work is still developing a point of view and can be irritating. And I really wish he’d just carry around an album of photos of him making that same damn face he makes every time he’s going to sketch himself. Seriously, by now he should have about 1000 photos of himself from every angle jutting out his jaw, making the fish face or baring his teeth. That face is almost as ubiquitous as Mark’s smugging or Miles talking about his OCD.
How I love a good discourse!!!
Vallegirl, it wasn’t Miles materials, it was that his piece had nothing to do with his childhood and he knew it and didn’t care. Considering he’s OCD, I would think there would be a plethora of times when that panic set in of things not being right and he could have had a hay day–even with a duct tape grid, but I was thinking more of McBoob’s and Ryan with that comment. And I did hate the balls.
Sarcasatire, I was reading that blog and comments carefully. It does make him more human to see him attempting to explain things, but a bias and a prejudice against someone is revealed in many ways. Tone of voice, body language–and I guess choice of words. He keeps ducking the Abdi issue, deferring to Mark in your case. I’m gonna guess you were quite clear about what you were asking. I’m agreeing with you all that Abdi is getting lost, and yes, i admit, I’m done with the super hero stuff too (his piece he rejected did look a little “yellow submarine” in a good way tho) If he had done the same piece on colored paper, even that would have been an improvement, but that particular display was a sketch book on a wall. There was nothing to draw you to it, and frankly, a nike swatch . . . did someone ask him to draw one? I still like his vision, even if it does involve his jutted chin (lol!) I just hope he finds a way to make it more expressive of something besides teenage superhero desires.
As for my Jerry rant, well SexyP, I have been around the ‘gasm, and I am prone to imaginative expletives too, which is why I asked in that case. All I remember is being offended at his tone, aren’t we grown up enough to not mock our masculinity (or femininity) in youth!!! For heaven’s sake, I played with Barbie’s and had burning envy over all my playmates mechanical baby dolls. They were like little robots to me that I wanted to take apart and learn how they worked, for reals! If anyone should be read about being “girly” it’s me . .. .but perhaps he was trying for humor. His tone with Abdi was unmistakable tho, there was a hate in there, and who knows, maybe were all too cracked out to know that Abdi is truly despicable . . . stranger things have happened–look how so many “reality” stars join the douche patrol after their shows air. That can be the lamest sort of snobbery, and I’ve seen it first hand on a few occasions . . . even when one of them is waiting on you; )
I think you nailed it too with Jerry, vallegirl. He kind of alludes to it in the first blog of epi 1–seemed to have some reticence about the appearance ruining his career. And I will say this, he posted a link to another review at art info that was hysterical, and very in the spirit of us gasmi–so he can’t be all bad!
And vallegirl, I’m a val too in North Hollywood, a place I like to refer to as No NoHo!
XOXOXOXOXO
Heh. I’m actually on the other side of the hill, I just dropped the “y” because it’s my name. But I loved the movie and do have a habit of referring to things as “Lord god king…” whatever in honor of the song.
As for Jerry’s “hate” for Abdi, much like his “love” for Miles, I’m guessing it’s mostly work-based, and Jerry really, really doesn’t seem to like pop art. The one thing all the judges say on all these shows, and I think Tom Colicchio may have it as a macro for his blogs, is that the judges never really interact with the contestants other than at judging. Jerry even said he wasn’t aware Miles had OCD until it turned up in the show.
Good point, valle, I was kind of kidding that he could be despicable, but rereading my posts of today, I’ve got mush on the brain . . . hee . . . I really should just slow down and stop mushing so many points together. Picture that little kid who never gets attention encountering someone nice and just blurting . . . that would be the equivalent of my posts, IMHO! I do try to be funny tho . . .
I must say I adore you for your recaps, AND for getting on your soapbox about the sexiness of grammar, SexyPanda. As a foreigner who had to learn pages and pages of irregular English verbs and the correct past tense and participle forms, you’d better not tell me NOW that it doesn’t matter. Ahem. Now for the hard part. As a foreigner (again) to whom, in her head, the words “tempura” and “tempera”, and “pallet”, “palette”, and “palate” sound completely different, unlike you guys who grew up with this crazy language that makes no spelling sense, may I (hopefully helpfully) point out: tempura is the Japanese fried stuff, and tempera is the paint. Recapping Work of Art, you should talk about a palette. If you’re recapping Top Chef, then it’s palate all the way. I don’t know which TV show would have something to do with pallets… The Real World: Costco? Anyway, sorry, it’s just that to me, they sound so different in my head, even though they shouldn’t, when they get used interchangeably they give me a mental Guitar-Hero wrong-button clanking noise. And now I will get off my soapbox (which is no doubt shaped like one of Miles’ concrete assholes – ahem) and quietly read the rest of the recap…
(Note to self re comment no. 9: “Read other comments before commenting!”)
OK, now I’m done reading the recap. I agree with you about Nicole’s art being very bland, SP. Let me do my Miles impression here (hey, everyone in the show was doing one at one time or another, why not me?): “Nicole’s work is visually so mind-numbingly boring that I get overwhelmed by the thought of having to look at it just to read the meaning she puts into it. I have to go take a nap. Zzzzzzzzzz…” And that’s why I really really really hope Nicole isn’t really a Bravo plant and that she doesn’t win.
I don’t mind Miles, he’s very entertaining and occasionally endearing, and I like his art now and then, but I am also mad at how he copped out of this challenge. Not so much mad at him for blowing off the challenge, as mad at the judges for somehow coming up in their minds with a justification of how that could possibly relate to childhood, and giving him a pass. It just goes to show how full of bullshit the art world is.
I agree Abdi could have benefited from editing, but in my class I was also “the kid who could draw”, so my classmates would always be asking me to draw something or other for them. One of them even asked me if I could illustrate his comic book, but then he decided not to do it. I wish he had. I can draw, but I suck at creativity, so having somebody else tell me what to draw would be great. So that’s why I am NOT an artist. Anyway, his story put a smile on my face just remembering.
I also liked Jaclyn’s art for once, and I’m PMSing one week later than you all, so it was Themiki’s grandma story and Betty Lane’s talking about Ryan’s exit line that had me reaching for the Kleenex…
OK, so shoot me, but I liked the little that I saw of Mark’s book, and I wish they had shown more, or that Bravo had more than the first page on their website.
Oh, and to finish (or rather, to go on and on and on), I just happened to see the documentary “Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?” Anybody else see it? It’s really entertaining (it’s really like a long segment of 60 minutes, and the lady at the center of it is a really good yarn-spinning old broad), and a good companion to Work of Art because they have such a perfect example of the Ultimate Art Snob (UAS) in Thomas Hoving, a former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who huffs and puffs that forensic evidence of the authenticity of a painting is nothing compared to his own godlike knowledge, expertise and feeling. As many problems as I had with just how good this evidence is, Mr. Hoving is such an insufferable, smug know-it-all, that I just couldn’t stomach Work of Art so much this week. Because it all comes down to: everyone in the art world has their prejudices and likes and dislikes, but instead of just honestly admitting it’s nothing more than that, they will spin it and rationalize it into why this is the only way it can be. Because they say so (also see paragraph 3 above.) And that just makes me sad.
sayhuh, that was a great comment! and I hope you didn’t cry too much. I’ll admit, it was hard not for me to get choked up when Ryan was talking about that stuff. he really does seem like a sweet guy, deep down, but he obviously had a lot of “issues” to work out. and I think he’s even more immature than Jaime Lynn, which is saying a lot. but I really do hope that Ryan has a lot of success, because he has a good soul. I think he’s just a little too naive about what not to reveal on camera.
whenever I drew in school, I did my best to hide it so people wouldn’t ask me to draw, haha! I have not had confidence in myself as an artist up until just a few years ago, I would say. so that really makes me feel for them, too. if you are insecure about your artwork, critique can be soooo hard to listen to. Erik is a perfect example of that.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about Miles’ piece & the whole controversy surrounding it. the piece itself bored me but I didn’t think it was a losing piece. and he could’ve easily passed it off as a tribute to video games, Tetris in particular, but at least he was honest about it. eh, I’m liking Nicole more now anyway, but what sayhuh said about her art was hilarious!
you know, other than a few people (Mark & Erik in particular), I think that this cast is actually rather likable. much more so than on shows like Project Runway. they are definitely a lot more low key than the fashion designers too, which is an interesting contrast. do you all notice how quiet it is when they’re working? the whole show is so cerebral & sexy panda you’re right that it’s great to see more of their actual process than quick snapshots in the studio. I’m getting bored of watching Jacqlyn bend over her art, however. I can only take so much plastic cleavage in one week.
I really liked Peregrine’s piece and was so happy to see her win. I think hers actually said the most about where she came from and how that has shaped her as an artist. Also, anyone that can make realistic looking cigarettes out of chalk? LOVE!
One thing I do like about this show is that it has made talking about art more accessible. My 10 year old niece is a budding artist, and my sister has taken to watching the show with her. Yes, some material is not entirely appropriate for a 10 yr old, but a lot of it actually goes right over her head. Oh, to be young.
What she’s been doing is actually taking the challenges and then doing them herself. It’s really interesting to see some of these from a 10 yr old’s perspective.
Anyway, GREAT recap yet again SexyPanda; you are one funny, funny lady!
SWAK, PottyMouth
Okay, PMS (or DMS (“DURING…”)) has a grip on me, cuz I teared up at the idea of your 10-yr-old niece doing the challenges herself! That is so awesome!!! Care to describe any of the pieces that were particularly cool?
I think I would have somehow, in a ridiculous, convoluted-logic way, appreciated Miles’ piece more if he had at least pretended to come up with a way to make it fit the challenge in a more obvious way. Yes, I appreciated that he said that they need to make the challenges bend to them, not the other way around, but I still see it as him thumbing his nose at the whole thing.
As for “pallette” versus “pallet”, I swear I googled that too! I kept seeing art suppliers spelling it the way I did, so….there ya go. (I know, I didn’t even need to get defensive about it, but I didn’t want to be a total idiot, trumpeting about grammar while spelling shit wrong!)
Count me in as someone who played with opposite-gender toys as a kid, and I’m totally hetero. I LOVED Matchbox cars and Go-Bots and Transformers. I had He-Man and She-Ra dolls, along with BattleCat (though, really, that’s almost Barbie). I was even totally, TOTALLY embarrassed at a class party where we were instructed to buy a toy for a boy or a girl, whatever gender we were, and we’d exchange by gender. A girl in my class opened my gift, which was a Go-Bot, and was confused. It caused a big stir, and though the exchange was anonymous, I eventually had to speak up and say, “That was mine. I like to play with Go-Bots.” (<–small, embarrassed voice.) (Also the exact same classroom where I talked about kids stripping!)
I agree with Betty Lane–this cast is generally pretty likable, even when they're being annoying! Honestly, I wouldn't mind hunkering down in a work room with 'em, even with Mark saying crabby things or Jaclyn's wunderchest flashing me!
I'm heading to a comedy show downtown tonight, but I already have it on my To Do list for the evening to catch up with our friends on WOA before I go to bed! See you on the flip-side, and as always, to you all, THANK YOU for reading and participating! It warms my cold, gray heart.
PM, that is a really lovely story about your niece and I hope she’s enjoying playing along. Ten is such a great age.
As for Miles, I’ll still defend him because of how he said he didn’t reference his childhood. When he told Simon it had nothing to do with his childhood, he also said there was nothing in his childhood that would work in this context. And I don’t doubt that. He seems far more inwardly motivated and everyone, except Jaclyn, used external moments to highlight the challenge. Since he told Simon he doesn’t even know if he considers himself an artist, yet, I can see how he’s still in the process of defining himself so while he probably does have the same “draw this for me” moments as Abdi, he doesn’t see them as pivotal because he doesn’t see himself as an artist, yet.
It’s just that the one time I really thought he was flipping the bird at the show and the challenge was on the “shocking” challenge, and he just seemed so self-satisfied with the BS he was throwing. He knew he was just yanking everyone’s chains and basically doodled an obscene Mickey Mouse head and then “christened” it. Even when he was talking about it with Abdi there was something just so gratingly smug about him. The only time I didn’t find him likable at all.
This time he did seem to be trying to meet the challenge but meeting it completely would mean making something more literal and less internal. So he made something that said something about him and less about some magical, formative moment in childhood that made him say “I”m an artist.”
Awwwww…..you’re so cute when you’re MSing.
I think my favorite one she did was a picture of her brother cleaning his room for the “shocking” challenge. I was laughing so hard I thought I would wet my pants! But it would be shocking because getting him to clean his room is AWFUL. The boy has ADD, need I say more?
She also did a great job on her self portrait, then did a portrait of said brother as her first challenge. What else? Oh, the electronic rubble one was fun: my sister let her choose from “garbage” (mostly cardboard tubes and such) and she made an Egyptian vase complete with organs inside. I tell you, I love that kid!
The whole gender specific toy thing makes me nuts. My son loves to play with cars and superheroes, but he also likes barbies and tea parties. I could give a rat’s ass what he plays with as long as he’s not hurting himself or anyone else. The boys in his class have given him a hard time about playing with girl toys and I continue to tell him he can play with whatever he wants and to tell them to mind their business. Of course it helps that he doesn’t have a dad putting in his two cents about the whole thing! Although…..my dad is old school Italian and he actually bought him princess dolls last year! The times they are a changing.
Have a great time at the comedy show!
LOL–about her brother cleaning his room!!!! Shocking!! That is great. And the Egyptian vase–that was like the embalming vases? WOW.
Play is play–it helps us socialize into well-rounded adults. Your son is going to be an awesome boyfriend/husband to someone some day because he played with dolls and cared to see things from their perspective!
(More evidence of my DMS-ing? I just called my dinner a douche. That asshole filet of salmon exploded in the microwave even though I purposely put it on medium power. Piece of shit.)
Now you’re making ME get all teary. Dinner is a douche just made me choke on mine. Dickhead sirloin.
Potty Mouth..that sounds like so much fun! My family vacations on Virginia Beach at the end of the summer and being reality show addicts, we always choose one show to create a competition challenge. One year it was Project Runway, adults as designers and kids as models, wearing fashions made from paper, aluminum foil, and trash bags. (My uncle the engineer made a pin-tuck pleated skirt with a fishtail hem out of the New York Times. My other uncle made a basketball jersey out of the Times and my cousin was able to pull it over his head without tearing it.
Last year, it was The Apprentice. We had to construct a business plan, a slogan, a logo, an ad, and retail packaging for my uncle’s homemade organic baby food. (He cooked elegant purees for his twin girls and we thought he should mass market it.)
This year, I think it should be Work of Art. It would be a great challenge fot the kids and the adults, too. It would be great to see what everyone would come up with.
hee . . . these are some fun exchanges! If it’s any consolation, I don’t need PMS or DMS to get teary . . . so I feel right at home! Thanks for the tales about the toys. As a result of my childhood longings, I ended up with a doll collection as an adult (so easy with ebay) It’s mostly celebrity dolls from films and shows. I have the entire Bionic collection, lot’s of star wars, kiss dolls, Farrah etc. So see, Potty, you’re doing the right thing!!! ( I mean, by quelching his desires to play while he’s young!) Great story about you Dad! My brothers daughter went through a boy phase, and wanted to dress like one, and my mother went along with that too. She has since moved away from it, but isn’t particularly girly!
For whatever reason, I’m dying to see the show tonight, I can’t explain!!!
Also, great to hear the projects, the room cleaning–CLASSIC!!!! LOL!!!!
Sounds so fun, Sacrasatire! Wish I had a family who would indulge me in that!
Enjoy the show, Sexy P!
Wow, I barely SEE my family, much less have time to play cool games like that with them. That is awesome!!! (I need to sit my parents down for a stern talking-to.)
Well, it’s an annual thing, the last week of the summer, and for some relatives/friends, this is the only time I see them. So don’t feel too bad…we start planning a year in advance, and it’s always the same week so it gives people plenty of time to make arrangements. Sometimes we have several houses, full of friends, as well..so it’s one big party, all week long!
It is so very wrong of me, but douche salmon and dickhead sirloin sound like stuff I would eat with relish. I’d stab them with my fork while saying things like “take that!” and laughing an evil laugh.
Sorry about the palette-pallet flap, SexyPanda. Just about everyone I know (who has English as their first language) gets the three confused. I have been wanting to bring it up for years whenever I see the wrong spelling and you were the lucky winner of my breaking point! (And there were probably ten grammatical errors in that paragraph alone, too…)
About the boy-girl flap, my daughter loved trucks and cars and airplanes, so she got a big honking fire truck for her fifth birthday, which got an audible gasp and “oh my god” from one of the mothers there. My daughter didn’t give a shit, but I’d still probably picture that lady’s face on the douche salmon as I stab it with my fork. When my son was 2-3, he fell in love with his sister’s Dora the Explorer nightie, and insisted on wearing it every night. He’s now 9, and we had both completely forgotten about it, but then I played an old home movie a couple of days ago and there he was, decked out in his Dora nightie, basket in hand, running around the house looking for Easter eggs. To his credit, he laughed his little butt off, but wasn’t embarrassed at all. And my friend’s very very boyish boy loves to put on his sister’s and my daughter’s sparkly pink costumes. My son also insisted a couple of years ago that he would only wear a pirate costume for his school’s dress-up reading night if he could wear it with his sister’s pink genie pants. Really, I don’t think people are making such a big deal of gender roles for kids anymore. We are conquering the divide! Right? Right? Bueller?
Oh, and sorry, Betty Lane, but after watching today’s episode, I can’t stomach the thought of Miles right now. Uuuuuuggggghhhh. I’m looking forward to the debate and everyone else’s take on what happened on the next recap!
@sarcasatire: that sounds like so much fun! I have to tell my sister about those two – we’re always looking for fun and creative things to do with the kids and to force my dad to do.
@juddfan: Oh! I want to see your collection! I bet you’ve got lots and lots of cool stuff. We’re a big “collection” family, so we all have something that we collect. It makes dusting LOADS of fun.
@sayhuh: LOVE IT. You know, it’s funny. There are a lot of people that don’t make as big a deal about gender roles, but have to say, my kid gets plenty of shit from other kids. They’re certainly being told SOMEWHERE that a boy can’t play with barbie because it’s a girl toy, right?
I have a friend with two boys who told me she thinks it’s great that I let him play with all toys, but then says her husband would never allow that. WTF?????? I do think things are probably better than we were kids.
This is what I love about this website. You get together with a bunch of people to talk about a TV show, and end up talking about gender roles, society, and asshole filets of salmon!
I am too, sayhuh! I am SUPER excited to see what everyone had to say about last night’s episode! and I totally understand why you hate Miles now, but I thought it what he did was hilarious, personally. you-know-who deserves to be taken down a notch & I hate her, so it was kind of awesome for me to watch. I don’t want to give away too many details for those that haven’t seen it yet, but man, if the kid art episode was my favorite then that one was definitely my 2nd favorite!
there are so many things to comment on it’s hard to decide. yay, we’re all pms’ing! I’m cramping as I type this. Sexy Panda, I’ve always spelled it “pallette” because that’s how I learned how to spell it. I had no idea there was even another option until spellcheck started telling me I was wrong, haha!
I too had he-man figurines & G.I. Joes. I loved “boy” toys, and was a very steadfast tomboy for much of my youth. I was climbing trees with a cast on the summer that I was 11 & sliding down dirt hills in construction sites on my butt. I am extremely lucky to have parents that were not only willing but excited to facilitate me & my sister being well-balanced little girls. not only did we have things like boy figurines, but we had things like microscopes & telescopes for xmas & birthday presents.
I also had a strong collection of bug-catching & animal-watching acoutrements. I am definitely continuing the same traditions with my daughter & I am super excited to introduce her to all of the awesome things that my parents did, gender be damned!
my boyfriend is encouraging me to try out for the next season of this show & I am seriously considering it. I have your recaps & the people that are commenting here to thank for it, too. because if I weren’t involved in this, I do not think I would enjoy the show nearly as much as I do. who knows if I’ll have a shot, but I won’t know until I try, huh?
thanks for the wonderful recaps, SP. they are amusing & thoughtful & I love having an opportunity to pick apart all of my opinions about the show with some great folks!
hey, have you guys watched any of the online clips of the show? I am right now because I needed to re-watch last night’s episode, but my ondemand isn’t working & I can’t find it anywhere online! boo & hiss! so I decided to get my fix by catching up on the behind-the-scenes action.
Ryan’s jealousy of Miles is driven to new depths during a 3:50 clip of him & Mark ranting about his “recycled” ideas. Ryan is chattering about how he practices in the studio a day beforehand then reworks it to fit the challenge. um, isn’t that pretty much what you’re supposed to do as an artist? you know, sketch & do preliminary stuff?? I know that they have rules about that on PR, but as far as I know, they haven’t been put in place for them on WOA. I wonder if that will change next season, if Miles is finally “revealed” to the judges? but I guess they know about it all now since it was being filmed!
it also gives a lot more studio time for the episodes that didn’t focus on that as much, so that is really awesome to watch. and it’s fun to see some of my old favorites, like Judith & poor Jaime Lynn.
back to Miles, I myself have tons of ideas for future projects that are amorphous enough to change as I see fit, so I understand what he is doing. I think Ryan was so limited (and Mark. and Erik.) in his vision that he could not even begin to grasp that. I did think yesterday’s “performance”, or whathave you, was very entertaining. he gives good t.v., what can I say? I don’t think he’s 100% evil, however, and that he is there because he’s an artist first & foremost. but he’s very smart & he is having fun. can you blame him?
okay, I will say the harsh truth – most artists are not very intelligent at all. people like Ryan, Jaclyn, Mark & Erik are the rule in the art world, not the exception. so I totally get why someone as intelligent as Miles is manipulating them, but I see it as a gently humorous way. kind of Seinfeld-esque. he is not doing any harm to anyone. and since Jaclyn was on his team & they were working together, it’s not like he was going to truly sabotage her. he did it to their mutual benefit, actually.
anyway, I’ll shut up but you guys should definitely check out the web extras on hulu or bravotv.com!
You should TOTALLY go for it, BL! We can say we knew you when! Are they casting now??
I’m repeating myself from what I wrote for the “About Last Night” mini-cap, but I fell asleep during the middle parts and only know A) what the challenge was and B) who won/went home. So I can’t wait to actually watch it, awake, and see what happened in that middleground! i DID see enough to see Miles living up to people’s hatred for him.
I might have the full recap up earlier than usual this week. I have a triathlon Sunday morning, which means I’m nerdin’ it up at home Saturday (to rest up!), which means I might as well write that thing and get it DONE so I can get DRONK after the tri and RELAX. Phew!
it would be pretty amazing to be on the show & have you guys writing about me, haha! I would try to do a shout-out to y’all & everything.
I have no idea if they’re casting, but I would assume so? I’m used to them making announcements on the show like PR does, but I haven’t seen any yet at the end credits. I did a google for “work of art second season casting” and only came up with a page for this year’s cast. I was thinking about just sending in an audition tape to Bravo & hope for the best? I have no idea what sort of publication I’d look for the casting call in because I’m not an actress or anything. anyone have any info??
THAT. would be awesome.
I Googled and got the same, and a page from Bravo about what they ARE casting for. (A friend of a friend is working in an office in NYC where Millionaire Matchmaker is filming and has seen some stuff happening. One millionaire is apparently super short! I know, what dirt!)
I wonder if they already casted Season 2 or were waiting to see how this would go first. From what I can see, they filmed this current season at a blustery time–maybe in fall? Or early spring? I don’t know, I’m just speculating like a numbnuts. Don’t mind me.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you, though!
thanks, hon!
I don’t know why they’d bother spending money on a 2nd season if they weren’t sure about the first, but that is certainly what could’ve happened. it does look like it’s the fall – it definitely isn’t summer or winter. so that means that either the new season is about to be cast – or they already did it & are starting filming now? argh, that would be annoying if that were the case! I really wonder how they recruited people for the first season, because I never heard anything about it, online or elsewhere.
Noooo, you got me all wrong, Betty Lane. Screw Jaclyn. No, I thought Miles committed douchebaggery after douchebaggery during Mark’s critique. I know hardly anyone likes Mark here, so I’m curious to know what everyone’s take on this was. All I’ll say is, if the judges had any courage, and if they went by their gut instinct, they should in fact have given Mark and Peregrine the win, but then they would have had to disclose politically incorrect thoughts. The show may have encouraged the artists to make SHOCKING! art, but I’m sure they would draw the line at political incorrectness. Shocking.
Betty Lane, how cool would it be if you actually got on Work of Art 2? We would get the whole story, and not just what the editors show us! I wouldn’t wish those judges on anyone, though, let alone someone I know (kind of). I read elsewhere that Nicole’s aunt is one the NY Housewives, and that she and Miles knew each other, and they were the first cast, and then the rest got cast around them. But of course, you can’t always believe what anonymous posters say…
But say huh-that sounds exactly right. Filming a new reality show is hard, and low budge for the most part. Someone somewhere said most of the artists were may were accomplished than you would think. BL-def check out Artfag city and the other one I mentioned, I would guess they would post about casting! I would love love love for you to get on the show!!! How’s about giving us a link to some of your stuff–take a trial run with the snarkiest peeps in the universe-HA! It could be a blast, and frankly–if this show got no ratings, it is inspring MAJOR debate!!!
I did see the new epi, and will say, (if you haven’t seen) watch for Jerry in the Previouslies, and then at judging again slamming his fist in his hand to emphasize every word he says to Abdi! I’m frustrated too, but it’s in a supportive way–is it me!?
And TOTAL bliss–loving the chat, esp our gender bending confessions–is it a wonder we all gather here!!!! HEARTS AND FLOWERS TO ALL!