My ideal television experience
If you aren’t watching Bravo’s Work of Art, I highly suggest that you start. The premise is described as such:
In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. The weekly assignments are exciting, original and will challenge the artists’ to push the limits of their technical skills and creative boundaries.
A slightly less flowery way of defining the show would be Project Runway for visual artists. And, by virtue of not being on Lifetime like Runway is now, the show benefits from the caliber of editing and production that PR used to have. If that wasn’t enough, it’s hosted by a woman named China Chow, a name that begs the be shouted, as the commentating gays at Tom & Lorenzo pointed out. (Personally, I think her name sounds like a dog food with Asian flair.)
Anyway, I caught a marathon of this what-I-thought-would-be-a-train-wreck-but-is-really-stupendous show over the 4th and have been hooked ever since. As Kate says, it’s a little like watching a room for of people like me. The artists are all methodical and, despite multiple neuroses, highly willing to help each other out and offer encouragement. Even the Tim Gunn stand in, Simon de Pury does a fantastic job offering mentorship and zippy little Swiss-flavored one liners.
After a four episode binge, I was jonesing for this past week’s installment. Arriving back from vacation on Thursday, I dove right in. And what awaited me was perfect. The artists were asked to travel the streets of New York in a fleet of Audis – Q5s and S4s – before arriving at the Audi Forum in Manhattan. *jealousy* They were then given half an hour to explore the dealership and come up with an idea that would translate the NY experience and time in the cars into an art work.
While the idea sounds sickeningly commercial, I will point out the BMW art cars as precedence. I will also say that the works this week are starting to exhibit the symptoms of overtaxing the creative process. That being said, my favorite contestant, Miles was able to again knock it out of the park. With the connections this show clearly has, it can only get better from here and I can’t wait to see where we go next week.
China Chow!