Child's play proves difficult in Bravo's 'Work of Art'

It was back-to-childhood time for the contestants of Bravo's "Work of Art." In Wednesday's episode, they faced the challenge of creating works that somehow addressed their memories of childhood using only the materials found in New York's Children's Museum of the Arts.

But regression proved to be harder than the contestants expected. Most of them had trouble formulating an idea and executing it using the basic tools at their disposal. Helping to judge this round was Will Cotton, who is famous for his colorful, candy-and-pastries-inspired creations.

Miles, whose air of entitled confidence has riled some of his fellow cast members, used little squares of duct tape to create a pixelated, abstract work that he admitted had little to nothing to do with his childhood. On the romantic front, his flirtation with hipsterette Nicole seemed to be moving forward, though the show continued to leave things between them ambiguous.

Peregrine's project was an assemblage that featured faux cigarette butts, narcotic detritus and a unicorn, all of which she said was in homage to her upbringing on a wacky artistic commune. (Now we know why she wears that outlandish headgear in each episode.)

Jaclyn appeared to have the most trouble with the assignment, changing her mind more than once during the episode. Also struggling, yet again, was Ryan, the self-deprecating goofball, who created a series of childlike drawings that he incorporated into an abstract installation piece. 

Simon de Pury, who serves as the show's mentor, expressed his disappointment with the works of art at the episode's halfway point. (He also announced that there will be no more immunity for winners for the rest of the season.)

But the judges managed to find two works of art that impressed them. (Spoilers below.)

The judges chose Peregrine's messy assemblage and Nicole's creation -- a series of suspended plates -- as the best works of the competition. They praised both pieces for their conceptual sturdiness and sharp execution. In the end, Peregrine won her first challenge, with Cotton saying that it was one of the rare works that he himself wished he could have made.

Going home was Ryan, whose childlike collage left the judges unimpressed. Ryan said in a post-show interview that he was surprised to be eliminated but that at least now he will be able to pursue his passion for oil paintings without having to explain himself to the judges.

-- David Ng

Photo: Peregrine's work of art. Credit: Bravo

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Comments

[Robert M Johnson]

I love the cast and I never miss a show! Is it
real life? Naa, but I can't take my eyes
off of it!

[Charles J]

Ah, well, I, ah, well... hmm... what to say...? I'm becoming more & more convinced that the main flaw in the show is the idea of multiple, varied challenges. Again, this week, we were faced with (at least) 2 artists (Jaclyn & Miles) who just didn't want to do it (but who had the chutzpah to say so), also noting that neither got bounced. ('Mr. Cezanne, you aint got no choice, you gotta make something out of this here silly putty, pipe cleaners and colored yarn'...'But I don't wanna, I don't wanna.'... 'Tough darts, CZ, just pick up your pallet & paints & hit the road!')

And once more, post-show, my socks remain firmly in place.

[william wray]

It's the time element--- If the loser had made the kids style drawings bigger and made it about his problem with his Mommy: bingo! If he had some time he would have thought of it or been prompted by somebody... The winning piece played to the artist strengths and was emotionally painful, but the playing the Aids card was the kicker. It seems the judges either what obscure work they must decode that looks cold and clever or dramatically cathartic. No emotionally average art. Also it seems if you’re featured in the heavy rotation promo bashing Miles you going to be voted off.

Check Jaclyn's eye opening behind the scenes blog entry.

http://jaclynsantos.com/blog/index.php

[Rich]

It's also this group of artists. There are far, far better and more talented young, unproven artists in this country. The producers seemed much more interested in conflictt, in diversity, in personality types, in gender balance and other things unrelated to actual artistic talent.

I agree that their works would be better if they had more time and if they always were able to choose the medium they worked in.

This would be my alteration to the format: every week, have a theme--sexuality, urban life, nature, fashion, architecture, wealth, poverty, parties, sports, etc. And tell the artists, "You have three days to make the very best piece of art which fits the theme in whatever medium you like. Go to work."

I would also bring in Simnon much sooner. Maybe 2 hours after they are told the theme, have them present a first sketch of their idea to him. Simon could then suggest ways to make the piece better. And then at the end of Day 1, Simon would return and talk with each artist, giving advice as to the merits of or problems with their art.

With better advice, working in a medium they really like, and plenty of time, the result would be much better works of art. The present circumstances of too little time, uncomfortable mediums, constrained topics and a lack of outside input from the start has resulted in very poor work by not very talented artists.

[william wray]

Not bad Rich, but how about changing the Simnon's mentoring segment over to the guest artist's each week?

[Charles J]

Hmm... Agree with giving the artists more time and having them work in a medium of their choice. But strongly disagree with having Simon, or anyone else, give them critiques and advice as they go along. (Simon does enough of that with his one visit.) I see this show, with all its faults, as a chance to showcase what artistic licks these people have, and not a classroom or teaching vehicle. I want them focusing on their own creative instincts, and I don't want to see them worrying about, 'Is this what Simon wants? Am I getting it right, am I doing what he suggested?' etc.

[Rich]

William, I think your idea is excellent. The only caveat in my opinion should be that if a guest artist gives the contestant-artist advice on his work, the guest artist should not then also judge that piece of work. But otherwise, I like your idea. ... The notion that the contestants need more and better input early on in the process really hit me when, from the outside, it became obvious that Abdi (who I think has a lot of talent) and Ryan (who may have been much better if he had some guidance) were missing the point of the "childhood experience" angle from the very start. It seems obvious in retrospect, but they just messed up thinking that the task was to make child-like art.

[william wray]

Yeah just making the goals clear and asking the question different ways until the artists start to give themselves the answer. " Do we what you to draw like children or to express your childhood with children's art supplies?" Actually I think on each show there is an element that accidentally convolutes the main goal. In this case, being forced to do the work at the child center naturally invites a logic that they are supposed to do child like art...