One Enchanted Evening

Wow, I wasn't prepared for the cry heard round the art world this soon! That almost made it even more shocking. And yes, I am going to include it here again. You know you want to watch it.

But before the copious tears and head-clearing chanting, the artists were divided up into two teams and given the challenge of creating two cohesive shows with works based on motion. Interesting challenge open to some really cool interpretations, no? The artists must have come up with some really cool, out-of-the box themes...

...Well not so much. Both teams kind of fell flat, much like Lola's bag of shredded paper. Young immediately took the lead role for his team (I think it was that power pashmina that solidified his status), and the team settled on the idea of migration. Well the team minus Kathryn, who wanted to go the intestinal route.

Speaking of the intestinal route, the other team settled on digestion as their theme due to Michelle's desire to do something with poop. Kathryn really drew the wrong straw on this challenge. (Seriously, what are the chances?)

When Simon came in for the initial critique of both teams, even he couldn't stay positive. And you know it's bad when Simon can't find something good to say. So it was back to the drawing board for both teams. Thus team poop turned into team playground and team migration migrated over to team loop.

I have to say the exhibition was full of pieces that, much like Dusty's "Playing with Myself" seesaw, left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. But hey, I guess that's part of the intended effect.

In the end team playground was victorious. Michelle's creepy penis-raising piece and Bayete's dizzying video landed at the top of the heap, and Bayete took the win (which was a huge win given next week is a double elimination). And it was amusing to learn via Bill Powers' blog that the artists termed Bayete's big comeback a "reverse Bayete." Artists are truly a raunchy bunch.

Tewz and Lola landed in the bottom, but it was Kathryn's "Splat" that really went, well, splat. The judges felt that she just recreated the exact same exact piece as last week. I guess the judges had seen enough of her bloody work (haha, British pun)!

Now let's take a moment to discuss the chant break. You can bet that the next time I get stressed at work I'll be telling people that I just need to go to the roof and chant to clear my head. Also what was Lola doing up there?

In her Exit Interview, Kathryn agrees that she may need to push her work in new directions. And also cries some more. But hey, I think there's a big opportunity ahead for her. Imagine the artsy edge she could bring to the Saw franchise!

Next week the contestants tackle pop art. Watch this preview to learn more about the challenge but more importantly to hear Simon say, "Pop is bold. Pop is brave. Pop is sex."