Culture and clash
Sorry for the snark delay... technical difficulties, so I'll have to borrow Bravo's stills and Hulu's video (because Bravo doesn't know how to post embed code without BREAKS in it).
On with the smackdown, shall we?
This week's challenge: create an eye-catching book cover for a classic. Each artist had to design a cover for "Pride and Prejudice," "Dracula," "Frankenstein" or "The Time Machine."
And what a great prize: the winning piece will actually be used for the next edition of the book in question. High culture, and a clash of opposites in terms of the challenge's effect on the artists.
Goofball and... let's call him Pattern Guy (AKA The Only Gay in the Village) loved the challenge.Goofball's a photog with lots of commercial and Photoshop experience, so he knew exactly where he wanted to go with this assignment.
Ready for printing, right there.
Gray Panther, on the other hand... horrified at the very concept of Art in the Service of Commerce. She doesn't do commissions, she doesn't do spec work, and she doesn't have the faintest idea what to do. Finally she decided just to give the middle finger to the assignment and the judges. She focused on the words of the title. Written backwards.
These are classics of literature! Your two biggest selling points are the title and the author!
Maybe I shouldn't mention Designated Hotness because she's been such an easy mark... but she keeps giving me reasons to close my eyes in agony. She's been assigned "Pride & Prejudice," which she's never read. "I've seen the movie..." Sigh.
So her fallback was her back; nude photo shoot in the bathroom, throw something together from that. Distract the judges with sex appeal!
And she misspelled Jane Austen's last name. Despite having a copy of the book on hand
Compare that to Tortured Artist, who'd never read Mary Shelley's Frankstein. But he calculated that he could read the book for the first time, and finish his piece on time.
Okay results, I suppose, but that's the second time he's used a blueprint in his artwork. It really came down to Goofball and Pattern Guy TOGV.
His first thought was to use color that would grab the reader from across the room.
TOGV imagined a faceted, whirling time machine -- see the tiny ladder to the left? -- with text that seemed to be whooshing by. Nice concept. I might pick up one of those abstract "reimagined classics" book covers. But they don't really do anything for me. The judges thought it kicked ass, though.
And then they kicked out Gray Panther.
Kelly called it on Facebook:
I think Gray Panther's been doing her own thing, her own way for too long to be on this show. She said as much in her parting comment: "I guess I just wasn't able to adapt to the situation." But it's your job as a contestant to adapt. That, and play to the camera.
On with the smackdown, shall we?
This week's challenge: create an eye-catching book cover for a classic. Each artist had to design a cover for "Pride and Prejudice," "Dracula," "Frankenstein" or "The Time Machine."
Gray Panther, on the other hand... horrified at the very concept of Art in the Service of Commerce. She doesn't do commissions, she doesn't do spec work, and she doesn't have the faintest idea what to do. Finally she decided just to give the middle finger to the assignment and the judges. She focused on the words of the title. Written backwards.
Maybe I shouldn't mention Designated Hotness because she's been such an easy mark... but she keeps giving me reasons to close my eyes in agony. She's been assigned "Pride & Prejudice," which she's never read. "I've seen the movie..." Sigh.
And she misspelled Jane Austen's last name. Despite having a copy of the book on hand
Compare that to Tortured Artist, who'd never read Mary Shelley's Frankstein. But he calculated that he could read the book for the first time, and finish his piece on time.
On these shows I always say that if they spend too much time showing one character throughout the episode that is the person who is going home. And sure enough, it was true tonight. I pegged who was going home at about the halfway point. And boy, what a stinker she made.
I think Gray Panther's been doing her own thing, her own way for too long to be on this show. She said as much in her parting comment: "I guess I just wasn't able to adapt to the situation." But it's your job as a contestant to adapt. That, and play to the camera.
Where to find my art
I've been having a great time venturing out in public (the physical, real-world public) with my art these past few months, and I especially want to thank everyone who's come to my book signings.
Some of the people I've met have also asked where they can see more of my art. For the moment, the two best places are right here:
or to finished work. "Artfest" and "Art and Soul Portland" show both the work I've done in classes as well as pieces I've done using techniques learned at those retreats.
Search: There's a search box at the very top left of this blog... works like any other search engine.
Flickr: See the "I made that" widget in the right-hand column of the blog? Click there to go directly to my photostream. Today I added photos of my "Dollhouses" rooms, pictures you can't find in the book.
I'm also working on building a portfolio site, which will link to this here blog as well. EDIT: Some of my dollhouse rooms are for sale. Email me at yolisalisa (at) gmail and we'll talk.
I hope I've also encouraged you to plunge in and make your own art, like Ms. Batts here.
Yes, that's her real name. She owns that name!
She's been inspired by my work in Mixed Media Dollhouses, and she's kicking around the idea of a bat-themed dollhouse of her own. Since bats hang upside down to rest, I suggested she put everything that's usually on the floor, on the ceilings of her dollhouse. If she makes it a reality, I'll post pics here too.
Again, thanks for hanging with me. Come back tomorrow and comment during the weekly snarkfest on "Work of Art." Remember, these reality shows don't make fun of themselves!
- in the blog posts (click a label, or search for specific words)
- through my Flickr page -- search for YoLisaLisa's photostream.
Flickr: See the "I made that" widget in the right-hand column of the blog? Click there to go directly to my photostream. Today I added photos of my "Dollhouses" rooms, pictures you can't find in the book.
I'm also working on building a portfolio site, which will link to this here blog as well. EDIT: Some of my dollhouse rooms are for sale. Email me at yolisalisa (at) gmail and we'll talk.
I hope I've also encouraged you to plunge in and make your own art, like Ms. Batts here.
Again, thanks for hanging with me. Come back tomorrow and comment during the weekly snarkfest on "Work of Art." Remember, these reality shows don't make fun of themselves!
How we'd rework the "Work"
EP 1
Laurel's enjoying the show, and agrees with many of my art picks as well as my snark about the "villain":
My favorite was the orange portrait - very affecting, not affected! And I do love orange, so that helped. I'm looking forward to more of this, I must admit. Let's see if they get rid of Now next. She's unbearable.
In the premiere, we cannonball into the WoA pool of contestants. A relatively diverse cast, as these things go. But I'm not bothering (at least, not for now) to use their actual names. On this blog, they are: the Villain Nao/Now, Tortured Artist, Starvingartist, the Goofball, the Designated Hotness, the Newb, the Old Lady/the Gray Panther, the Black Guy/ Cartoony Boy, the Weird White Girl, the Christian, the Effin' Hipster, Hilary Swank's Double, and the Black Girl/The Undercover Misfit.
The judges haven't yet really established their personas, but the host formula is set. SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker) cameos, Switzerland is the main host, and the Designated Expert butts in to distract the artists as they work.
EP 2
So far, most of y'all who've spoken up are tolerating the format for the sake of seeing the art. Michelle says:I'm still on the fence about this show; I can't decide whether it's a good idea badly executed or just a bad idea all around.
WoA gets on Laurel's nerves for the same reason the other reality shows do: they take each contestant so far outside of their area of expertise:
... so that gradually they bleed all the individuality out of them, and the winner is the one who can do everything well. But...but...why do we need that? There's room in the world for each of us to be outstanding in our field, isn't there? Huh?
But then I guess there wouldn't be any show. Sigh.
But then I guess there wouldn't be any show. Sigh.
Agony abounds in ep 2 for the artist contestants: They're asked to make assemblages out of old electronics, but most of them have little or no experience in 3D art. Some definite standouts, though. Tortured Artist wins partly on the strength of the piece, partly because he's the most melodramatically arty.
This is Tortured's second win. He loosens up enough to mouth off about how "distractingly boring" he finds Hipster's piece, as Evil Greg noted.
Don't be shy about commenting! Especially if it's your first time... one of last week's commenters said hi all the way from Malaysia! I'm thinking tomorrow's ep will have a