"Work of Art" on Bravo

I admit that I enjoy shows like "Top Chef" and "Project Runway". They brought the concept of skill to reality TV and have increased public knowledge about cooking and fashion. Now Bravo has introduced its newest show in that vein, "Work of Art". I didn't want to watch it because I thought it would show artists as amoral losers who do things just for the sake of being weird and I'm tired of that portrayal of creative people. So far the show isn't THAT bad, though. Most of the contestants seems to be practicing artists who have made careers in the arts, which is encouraging.

But, as with all these shows that claim to be finding the "best" chef or designer, what they really find are the people most able to create quickly on a tight deadline. This, to me, is not what art or being a creative person is about. I'm wondering if this show will do more harm than good in terms of
educating the public about what it is to be an artist. Maybe any attention in popular culture is good attention?

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Tillie on June 18, 2010 at 12:59pm

I'll state that I flew down to Los Angeles to try out for this show. Along with jewelry designs, I showed a portfolio of other multi-media sculptures. There were about 300 of us in line for the "audition" and they spent about 30 seconds look at your portfolio and 90 seconds interviewing you.

I honestly could not tell what they were looking for in the portfolios or the "interviews" to determine what got you to the second interview, but I didn't make it... (obviously).