The brilliant Sharon Butler has allowed me to repost her post of a few days ago about Work of Art
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 04, 2010
Sorry, Brent Burket, but, yes, here's another post about Work of Art
The latest issue of The Brooklyn Rail is the unofficial Work of Art issue.Patricia Milder contributes a roundup of quotes excerpted from the critical debate surrounding the show, William Powhida draws a game board depicting his insular art world reality ("Get Recognition, Get the Gallery, Get in Museums, Make History"), while I try to put our conflicting feelings about the show in context and look forward to the second, let's hope more successful, season.
Here's a post I wrote last year during the initial WOA casting call while I was the Blogger-in-Residence at Art21. In the post, my version of an artist's reality is completely different from Powhida's because it focuses simply on avoiding failure by contributing to the community and continuing to make art, not on clawing our way into the collections at MoMA, the Met and elsewhere. Powhida may wrap his striving and careerism in wiseguy humor, insider jokes, and estimable drawing skill, but his notion of success strikes me as outdated--as retro as his ubiquitous aviator shades.
"No matter how hard I try, avoiding reality TV is a challenge. The shows are like invasive kudzu: Nanny 911, Extreme Makeover, The Housewives of New Jersey, Jon & Kate, The Price of Beauty, COPS, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, and many, many more. This fall I’ll be avoiding American Artist, Sarah Jessica Parker’s collaboration with Magical Elves, the team behind Top Chef and Project Runway. The new show will serve a mash-up of amateur entertainers—that is, real people—engaging in old-fashioned game-show-style competition and unscripted activity. According to press reports, each episode will feature the show’s “contestants” competing in art-themed challenges from a range of disciplines—including sculpture, painting, photography and industrial design—and completing works of art that will be assessed by a panel of 'top figures' in the art world, including artists, gallerists, collectors, curators, and critics.
"If there are any producers out there (PBS?), here’s my suggestion for a better reality show about artists. Create a show that’s a little more verité, like an old-fashioned documentary. Forget about vetting 'contestants.' Cast the net wide and choose 100 art grads from all over the country in June by random lottery. No auditions, video entries, or artist statements. Abandon any attempt to frontload charisma or talent. As the competition proceeds, to minimize the artists’ artificiality and self-consciousness (and their inclination to ham it up) they would be forbidden to reveal that they are participating in a reality TV show. Inevitably, some will be genuinely talented, some avidly self-promotional, some charismatic, some absolutely clueless—just as in real life.
"Give them a list of goals to complete over the course of the viewing season. Those who fail to make the benchmarks are gradually eliminated. Here are some purposely vague goals that might be included:
- Find suitable living/working space that they can afford
- Get their work in three group shows
- Contribute in some creative way to the wider art community
- Publish three reviews (either essay or video format) of their colleagues’ art shows
- Curate a themed group show
- Get a grant or a teaching job
- Arrange five studio visits with gallerists or curators
- Get a solo show by the end of the year
- Fails to make art for more than four days during the period.
- Works longer than forty hours a week at their day job
For me, a show like this, that creatively and realistically demonstrates the overwhelming challenges would-be artists face, would be must-see TV."
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