You Can't Just Wing It

The challenge this week was the single sponsored challenge in this series. Too bad the winner didn't drive away in an Audi. Peregrine picked up on this, playing off the Audi brand with a semi-edgy word game. A discussion about car culture within an urban setting seemed core.

As a viewer of Work of Art, I miss Nao's quirky outlook, especially in this "inspiration" challenge. But as judges we are only exposed to their gallery artworks. Regardless of her high impact persona, we saw only her smudging brown paint (and if red = blood, and white = bird shit, then what is brown, Peregrine?) over herself, and set within a shoddy dwelling built for an overgrown warthog. Did we judge her more critically, or set a higher standard for her knowing that she was a capable performance artist? I have certainly taken note. From her audition tape, I was stirred by her attempted drowning with a tied bag of water over her head. There was an immediacy to this conceptualized work about failure, rather than her 'let's wing it on TV' failure. If you show up, come prepared.

Miles chose a homeless shelter for his place of peace. The cardboard in the photo, in effect, representing an abandoned homeless person's bed. Richard Phillips - who had many great artist to artist comments about the actual practice of making art - took some issue with using a minimalist language for more social commentary and critiquing. I had hoped that some of this would have made it into the show. Instead we are left with the idea that as judges we like to, and I quote Jerry, "Keep it simple, stupid."

Caught in a "fish bowl," Jaclyn used her camera, turning her predator into prey to make the winning work. Exposed, without needing to get exposed. And so, an exit quote from Nao, "Go, Jackie, go...."

To the "regular housewife" - thank you for watching the show and attempting to read my blah, blah one-way conversational blog! One reader enjoyed looking up a few references, for example, Judy Chicago's Dinner Party. While taping the show, as judges we would initially identify the works through their more established artwork references. The producers let us ramble in this comfortable direction, and then politely stopped us and asked that we describe how we "felt" looking at the artwork. After all, you rarely hear the judges of Project Runway say how a particular dress is "so Rodarte 2010, by way of Chanel 1960s."