Bravo's Work of Art Finale

Tonight was the finale for Bravo TV's "Work of Art".

The three finalists all had very distinctive styles:

Miles had his conceptual, "let's get deep inside my head and see what sorts of black and white images, shapes, and pixels are inside there" exhibition.

Peregrine took us to a country fair, with lots of color (no black and white here) wax heads, melting frames, little horses, pictures of vomiting kids, cotton candy, and a picture of taxidermied unborn fawns. Whew, that's some country fair.

Abdi showed striking large sculptures of figures lying on the ground, and paintings of figures, and body bags.

Simon DePury made the rounds to the artists' homes (a la Tim Gunn on Project Runway) in the months prior to the finale, to check up on their progress. It's always interesting to see where people live and do their work. It looks like Peregrine has a fabulous loft space, which very few people can afford any more in New York City... and may be one good reason to move to Kansas City, MO.

The winner of the show, $100,000, and an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, was Abdi. I liked this outcome, as I enjoyed watching him grow throughout the series. His positive spirit and attitude counter-balanced some of the other contestants, who appeared more cynical or manipulative about the playing the game. Of course that's all part of a reality show, to be willing to do anything to win. And a variety of personalities is needed to make a good TV show, so Work of Art did a good job there, with a pretty good variety of creative types. But Abdi seemed to just enjoy doing the art, with humor and charm. That was fun to watch.

The judging of art and any other creative endeavor is completely subjective. There is no one right or wrong answer. Everybody has an opinion about art they like or dislike. And they're all right. There may be some consensus regarding whether someone has good technical skills, although that can be debatable too. Everyone will never agree ... No one will always agree. Well, however you look at it, everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is clear on various blogs, recaps, and comments sections that have followed this show.

Work of Art allowed us to see how art critics, gallery owners, and other artists, look at and talk about art. The art world is a mysterious place. If you're not in New York City, or London or some other large city, then it can be a mystery what makes something a good piece of art. In Work of Art, a TV show exposed that process to millions of American television viewers, who could see and listen to people making art and discussing art. So even if you live in the so-called fly-over states (everywhere that's not NYC or LA), you could watch, listen in, and even share in the conversations about the creation of a Work of Art. And what can be wrong with that?

Bravo to Bravo TV's "Work of Art"

Bravo TV has continued their skill competition-reality show genre, which started with Fashion Designers (Project Runway, which is now on Lifetime), and Chefs (Top Chef and Top Chef Masters), with a look at Artists. Work of Art (on Wednesday nights, currently on its 8th episode) features artists, competing with limited time and materials (just like the Fashion and Chef shows) and some specific parameters, to create a work of art. They're not just random characters being arbitrarily "voted off" a reality show. They are people with a specific set of skills/talents/abilities/knowledge, so seeing how they think through a challenge is fun to watch.

It's a fascinating look at the creative process. You may not agree with who wins or loses, you might debate whether a "work of art" is actually a "work of art". But to bring that debate about art and creativity to a wide television audience is, I think, a really great thing. Even if you're not a fashion designer/chef/artist, you find yourself thinking, "hmm, what would I do with that assignment?" A few of my friends have discussed doing each assignment ourselves and having our own competition each week, though it's hard to find the time in our busy daily lives, which is a shame.

Creativity (right-brain thinking) is less emphasized in our schools than logic and reason (left-brain thinking). So I think it's important and valuable for the general public to have a look at just how creative people create. How do they do it? What is the thought process? How did they think of that? Sadly, too many people believe "I'm not creative at all. I can't even draw a straight line." I always say, well, that's okay, because a straight line is not creative at all!

It's good for more people to see and learn how new ideas form and change, throughout any creative process. Creativity is an important problem-solving skill. It is, by definition, thinking outside the box (I hate that expression, but I think people understand the concept), and thinking of things that haven't been thought of before, creating something new. A new idea, new product, new process.

On the official website (www.bravotv.com) you can read more about the show, and read commentary about and by the artists who competed.

And there's a great feature at the New York Magazine website. Jerry Saltz, the NY Magazine Art Critic (I hope that title is right), was one of the Work of Art judges. He is writing recaps of the show after it airs each Wednesday. So, he's watching it with the rest of us, now that it's been edited and aired, but was also part of it when it taped months ago. His perspective is unique and a great discussion goes on in the comments section each week. Mr. Saltz is graciously responding to many of the comments and questions about the show, his experience, the artists, art, etc. It's really fascinating and adds a great deal to the show each week. You can check it out at:

http://nymag.com/tv/work-of-art/

Some commenters debate the artistic value of what's being created, but I think the exposure to the creative process to a larger audience is the most valuable thing going on here. This is essentially a TV show, after all. A TV competition show where someone will win a reward at the end, but a TV show just the same. The producers' first job is to make a good, interesting TV show that lots of people want to watch.

You need good artists, but if they were all too shy and afraid to talk to the camera, then you have a boring TV show. So personalities do enter into it. I think that the key to this type of show is in the casting and editing. The casting of talented people, with a blend of interesting and varied personalities, is combined with editors who can take a gazillion hours of tape (perhaps not an exact figure... just an estimate) and edit it down into an interesting story, told in about 42 minutes each week. That's a challenge that is more difficult than people think. But these Bravo shows typically do it very well, and Work of Art is no exception.

Sarah Jessica Parker is one of the producers who created this show, and I'm glad she did. It's fascinating, fun to watch, and interesting to talk about it afterwards, and read the discussions that follow each show. I hope Bravo picks up this exploration of the creative process for a 2nd season.

Project Runway

Now that Project Runway has moved from Bravo to Lifetime, fans wondered if the show would change. Except of course, that the show was filmed months and months ago, while their eventual place of broadcast was still being, uh, let's say debated. (that's what lawyers do, right? debate...)

So it looks very much the same as it did on Bravo. They're in LA instead of NYC, but since most of the action happens indoors (the sewing room, the runway set, their apartments), what's going on outside the window is not as noticeable as one might think. I keep forgetting they're in LA actually.

Project Runway episodes are fun to watch twice. The second time, it's interesting to watch the creative process, as they struggle with the design and execution, all the while knowing who ended up winning and losing. It does appear the judges this season are quickly disposing of the ... how shall I say... the more avant garde, more wacky designers rather quickly. These designers might not be as commercially viable on a broad basis if they were to eventually win, but they sure can be fun to watch.

I always counted on Bravo to rerun episodes so I could either catch up if I missed one, or catch it a second time. To be fair, on Bravo, I often accidentally found the repeats, was never quite sure when they would be on. Still not sure how Lifetime is handling their repeats, hopefully fans will be able to catch episodes that we miss or want to re-view.

The biggest change now, I think, is that both Project Runway and Top Chef have just started their new seasons. Bravo used to rotate them, so they were usually either airing one or the other. Now we're getting to know both the new chefs and the new designers at the same time, figuring out who we love and who we love to hate. Well, at least they're on different nights, so we don't have to choose a favorite. ... Wouldn't it be nice if these were the biggest problems we had to face in our daily life? It's true, they're just TV shows ... but they are fun to watch.

Top Chef Masters

As a fan of television, and having worked in the industry, I do enjoy watching TV. I worry that scripted dramas and comedies are becoming too scarce, and hope that we can achieve some kind of balance, so both scripted and reality-based shows have equal airtime opportunies.

That said, there are a few reality shows that I really enjoy. Top Chef and Top Chef Masters are both fun to watch, as skilled and talented chefs compete, using those unique skills.

Top Chef Masters has often been such a love-fest among all the chefs. It's nice to see experienced professionals, in a friendly competition, earning money for charity. They obviously respect each other and love what they do. Not as much conflict as on other shows, but, really, do we always need to see so much conflict? I realize it is the key to drama, but it seems like there's plenty of conflict in the world as it is.

As successful Chefs become more well-known through television, it must help their restaurant business. Personally, since Top Chef Masters, I want to go to San Francisco right now, and splurge on a meal at Fleur de Lys, Hubert Keller's restaurant. And I would love to have a meal by and/or with Art Smith, he has so much joy in what he does. And I want to try the Mexican cuisine so carefully prepared by Rick Bayless. It's interesting to see how people's personalities come across on television. Some people are so likable, you just want to sit down with them over a beer and chat. Others... not so much...

A recent episode had a bit more tension, as one of the Masters seemed to question if the regular Top Chefs from past shows were really qualified to assist him. It didn't show him in the best light, but it seemed to me that perhaps he had never watched Top Chef in the past, or he would have known that all the contestants had, at the very least, basic chef skills.

There is more conflict in the regular Top Chef. Those chefs aren't as established as the Masters, and they're competing to personally receive money and to advance their own careers. It's not usually quite as friendly, they all take it a bit more seriously, as they have a more personal stake in the outcome.

Bravo TV does a great job with this type of show. I enjoy quite a bit of Bravo's programming.

I'm also a fan of Project Runway, and most fans realize that Bravo lost that show to Lifetime in a somewhat strange and drawn out legal battle. I'm still not sure how that happened, but it does appear that Lifetime is trying to expand their programming beyond just replaying Movies of the Week. Project Runway also involves competition between people with a certain set of skills and talents (fashion design).

I think viewers enjoy playing along at home, let's see, what would I make, using only ingredients or materials from a grocery store or a vending machine? Then the pros come up with things that we would have never thought of, and we think, wow, what a great idea! Creativity and inventiveness at work.

Tonight the new season of Top Chef starts, as well as the final episode of Top Chef Masters. I will be watching, cheering for my favorite Masters, and getting my first impressions of the new chefs. Also this week the new season of Project Runway starts, first time on Lifetime. It will be interesting to see if a change in networks (and the change from NY to LA) will change the show.