tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post1018195628328072001..comments2023-04-04T07:25:15.120-04:00Comments on William Powhida: Work of Art RantWilliamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154012560700446804noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-37040954125632074902010-08-21T09:36:04.015-04:002010-08-21T09:36:04.015-04:00Mr. Powhida,
Carefully (questionable adjective he...Mr. Powhida,<br /><br />Carefully (questionable adjective here, obviously) produced television programming is designed to distort the viewer's perception of reality. It is in effect propaganda whether good or bad. <br /><br />Having been in the work force now for over thirty-years, American society and capitalism function in such a way that it is very much like a lottery, even for professional athletes. For example, an athlete may be exceptional in college, but once he or she enters the professional realm, he or she may or may not excel. The athletic individual could suffer from a career-ending injury, dashing all hopes of excelling and breaking all sorts of records.<br /><br />So, too, for the working classes (the writer JPM was on point in characterizing <i>staring at walls</i> as a luxury), one can devote lots of time and energy to a corporation or privately run company and hardly have their work acknowledged; hardly get paid enough, only to watch someone else get hired in a better paying position. Such aspects of American society for the working classes can be sad, depressing, disgusting, and even repulsive, but, ultimately, we must somehow come to terms with it, whether we like it or not. <br /><br />So Mr. Farah won a television contest of a program few people watched. Big deal, but good for him. He received a little bit of money. The real test (and this applies to all of us) will be if he has the endurance and stamina to continue thirty-years, forty-years, fifty-years from today.Joel K Smockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171662653761448934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-48907440440193036972010-08-21T04:46:44.905-04:002010-08-21T04:46:44.905-04:00its pretty funny how clear it is what the main dem...its pretty funny how clear it is what the main demographic for this show was from reading these comments...<br />not a value judgement. I know a young mom/ former art student who really hates the show though, so go figure.zurizurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01873220779024626451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-36696475014866294772010-08-20T08:02:35.306-04:002010-08-20T08:02:35.306-04:00Maritza: right on the money.Maritza: right on the money.joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12876954744357352512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-11117402373060918542010-08-19T21:50:13.940-04:002010-08-19T21:50:13.940-04:00you need a vacationyou need a vacationAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-51318357247171148832010-08-19T16:34:54.979-04:002010-08-19T16:34:54.979-04:00I didn't really read this whole rant. I Didn&#...I didn't really read this whole rant. I Didn't watch 'Work of Art', but read about it. And glad I did not watch it and glad people hate the show, I think it;s a stupid idea, especially with Sarah Jessica Parker invloved. Makes me want to create more work, and glad to not be in NYC, and only in Missouri, where my work is not judged as whether it really matters or not. I don;t think I could take the pressure of living in NYC and trying to "make it" as an artist in LA or NY or Paris. to be happy I just want to live life with balance, though I would like to sell more artwork and TRY to sell work, but I'm not even doing that well along with the rest of life. I know I still need to make work and DO SOMETHING (show, sell, somehting) with it. Which I have not been doing (ssssiiiiigggghhhh....) Makes me wish I hadn;t MAJORED in Art and been to ART SCHOOL and MFA and All that, because now my main motivation is that I HAVE to make art, beacause I have thes e f-ing DEGREES and student loans, but that is not the worst motivation. I think the worst motivation would be to make....well, maybe there is no worst motivation to make art...even if it is bad art, at least YOU MADE SOME THING, and didn;t just WATCH TV...Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02902986087114969183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-16715177255169780822010-08-19T10:40:48.772-04:002010-08-19T10:40:48.772-04:00William,
With a few exceptions (C-monster, Jerry)...William,<br /><br />With a few exceptions (C-monster, Jerry)I don't disagree with you, but I think you have taken this show way too seriously. It's the art world's Nascar races, wrestling, Real Housewives, Jerry Springer and celebrity roasts all in one.<br /><br />The clueless socialite with the one-should sequin dresses is the perfert metaphor for the whole thing: totally unnecessary but freakishly amusing to watch.Joanne Matterahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02564594823192456546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-55847702727293174532010-08-19T10:11:14.392-04:002010-08-19T10:11:14.392-04:00The question is art a ‘symbolic representations of...The question is art a ‘symbolic representations of radical thought’ or "yet another symbolic pressure-release valve for radical thought..." is ground zero for any serious artist. It piques my curiosity as to what you consider radical to be now beyond shock viewers out of their complacency.<br /><br />Articulate and passionate post.echttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10179475093316406677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-27045490094189574482010-08-18T16:59:03.050-04:002010-08-18T16:59:03.050-04:00I think what we(artists) seem to be frustrated wit...I think what we(artists) seem to be frustrated with is not with this reality show per se but how much attention it's gotten in the art world. We want the attention. We feel we deserve more since we are working on our own projects, losing time going out of our way to network, and not following some reality show crap. Big egos. Desperation. Maybe some of us wish we had that attention so we'd finally have some recognition. We are constantly fighting, going to bed without sleep just to have time to make work after our 9-5... What does it take to get a little attention? What about us who can't afford/are not priviledged enough to get an MFA at Columbia, NYU or Yale? What about those whoa re paying off art schools loans. Do we have to resort to a reality show? Powhida, at least you're already well-known. Most of us little guys will be financially depressed/unsatisfied our whole lives making art and not get 1/1000 of your recognition. I think any show about art is going to get this attention in the art world, no matter how stupid the challenges are. It's hard not to watch, as crappy and predictable as it can be. Our whole life is about art. Just like chefs are gonna' watch Top Chef and fashion designers are gonna' watch Project Runway. Maybe we're a little jealous of not getting the attention. Maybe it is slightly inspiring. As shitty as you may find WOA to be, it still is relatable to artists on a level since there is art-making involved. Alors nous regardons.<br /><br />And as shitty as it may be, you and others are writing about it. :-pDana Burnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06881997506097151110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-35216487306625758752010-08-18T16:27:41.252-04:002010-08-18T16:27:41.252-04:00I also really liked what Maritza said, and can rel...I also really liked what Maritza said, and can relate in many ways. I'm also a mom w/ small kids (+ day job!)... who somehow still finds time to make art, even show it.<br />At the same time, I definitely agree with William's rant. What a sophomoric, ass-backwards way to choose a 'best' artist, and anyhow, what's the use in artists competing against each other like this for, for what, money, fame, a solo show, to be 'the best'? What are they hoping to gain from all that, anyhow? Yet still, in all that there are the small moments of human frailty and redemption that emerge, as Maritza points out. Yea, kind of like the art world itself. <br /><br />I have to say that I did not watch the show either; 2 contestants from my alma-matter and another one (of the finalists) who practically lives down the street from me was a little too close to home to stomach, but I did follow some of the press about the show. <br />Hey, Maritza, whether we are New Yorkers heavily involved in the Chelsea art scene or moms in the suburbs, we all have a life outside of the art world, and for most of us, it's not easy to navigate both successfully. No matter what our personal situations, most of us artists are all looking for the answer to the same question: how to keep making art. (TIME, TIME, TIME, how to get more time!!!)And of course, as William said so well, since to most of us art is not just (or maybe not at all) our careers but our lives and in most cases our education as well, we are not just content to putz around making pretty pictures. Those of us who know better don't just want to make art, we want to make really good art, the kind that makes people think, or feel, or cry, or love, or pushes art and the dialogue in new and challenging direction-- That's really the goal, isn't it? And that is damn hard, no matter which way you slice it.Saskiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06060235624260421551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-35297756588094497402010-08-18T16:19:46.534-04:002010-08-18T16:19:46.534-04:00I agree with almost all the pros and cons. Whatev...I agree with almost all the pros and cons. Whatever. I'm wondering WHY it is such a big deal one way or the other? I've begun to think it's because we are all scrambling so hard for a little attention, a little affirmation about our work...our lives... and it's hard to have so much attention going to this TV show posturing and setting itself up to bestow rewards on a bunch of random contestants, most of whom have paid no dues! I think it's bringing out people's personal issues. Fortunately the Fall Season will come soon and bring lots of new things to see, and to talk and think about.judith braunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14387508863356404085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-72488050200499015082010-08-18T14:35:28.445-04:002010-08-18T14:35:28.445-04:00@Maritza: I know it may seem utterly jerkish of me...@Maritza: I know it may seem utterly jerkish of me to say so, but your maudlin testimonial doesn't seem like a reasonable justification for WANGA. Actually, it smacks of the same generic tone that most marketing (and reality-show competitions) deliver: inspirational, "unpretentious" pap that appeals to the alienated-yet-family-loving consumer. Oprah would approve. <br /><br />I mean, WANGA's casting-call for the 2nd season has a similarly irritating, aspirational earnestness to it: "We want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know who they are and what they can do." And remember: Abdi won because of his "heart." Please. This all sounds like sentimental, "emotional" advertising copy 101, and it's bad news if this is the default tone of where the "broadening discourse" of art is heading. I'll slit my wrists with a Hallmark card.<br /><br />Maybe Powhida's "rant" isn't any better, but at least it's not condescending to those childless, art-world-insider dilettantes with the "luxury" "to stare at walls." C'mon. <br /><br />I'm sure you're lovely (I am, too), but the crisis in the "art world" is no different than the crisis in the real world: there are so many voices and conversations and confusions and standards over how things should be understood that we all just end up perceiving ourselves as being broken up into these little factions. Then, big-money (Bravo, Carrie Bradshaw, etc.) swoops in and chucks it all into the hopper and neatly packages our collective dreams, struggles, accomplishments, failures, misgivings, whatever into a pretty little paste. Because things are so groundless to begin with, the paste becomes the new point of reference merely because it was made conveniently available to the most people. It's like, great: here we are "talking" about "art" and our relationship to it by way of a twelfth-rate reality-show that actually wrapped-up many months ago. We might as well be communicating via kazoos in a typhoon.Jesse Patrick Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08420991038516073399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-45204644568678502592010-08-18T11:42:11.345-04:002010-08-18T11:42:11.345-04:00Maritza Ruiz Kim, your comment really touched me. ...Maritza Ruiz Kim, your comment really touched me. I'm right there with you, in every way.Mollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10510886456850541360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-5773218301773008982010-08-18T04:15:46.008-04:002010-08-18T04:15:46.008-04:00Um, yeah. The point is Work of Art’s failure in ge...Um, yeah. The point is Work of Art’s failure in general, but also its failure to educate the uneducated. I live in a very decentralized area where art is thought of in terms of hand-hammered copper relief and tole painted decorative objects. People here are several decades behind contemporary themes and there’s little hope of making up for lost time. I guarantee a large portion of my city glued their dyeing eyes on Bravo’s newest calamity. SO WHY couldn’t the most innovative institution on the planet have collaborated and succeeded on what it needed to do most? EDUCATE! Educate us without glorifying the stereotypical clichés regions like mine cling to for understanding art. Bravo/Art World, you turned art into a sickened and unsuccessful multi-million dollar social experiment.<br /><br />Like stated proper above in that there rant, this shit ain’t no career with a prize. It’s blood and instinct. I’ve got a box with 100’s of childhood drawings sitting in my studio. My family pinned those fuckers on our water-stained kitchen walls just as I do today in the tiny box I make shit in.<br /><br />And if you think jealously has been aroused here, your damn right it has. And had I not given a shit about the space I inhabit, this show probably would’ve made no difference to me. But people need to know when their full-of-shit. And this is the best place for those people to read that their full-of-shit. So producers, critics, artists, bloggers, whoever the hell. Make a difference, not pageant. And BTW, I didn’t watch a single episode of this bullshit. Didn't have to, Twitter transcribed every episode.Garric Simonsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907600950517604200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-58980424384795487672010-08-18T01:20:14.081-04:002010-08-18T01:20:14.081-04:00So, did you like the show or not?So, did you like the show or not?Kennethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15292499376170907203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-31876580255932811612010-08-17T22:43:49.431-04:002010-08-17T22:43:49.431-04:00Rapid, rambling, heaving, vitriolic, vomit-like ra...Rapid, rambling, heaving, vitriolic, vomit-like rage and loathing is the most appropriate reaction one can have to WANGA (since watching it is like biting into a glitter-dipped, shellacked turd).Jesse Patrick Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08420991038516073399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-71800101601384482422010-08-17T22:16:04.462-04:002010-08-17T22:16:04.462-04:00I watched because I felt like I had to. I'm n...I watched because I felt like I had to. I'm not in the thick of the artworld and the chance to have broader communications about art in the manner of the twitter barage are lacking. I did quit watching at some point for the reasons you mention, but ultimately came back for the group dialogue. Sad, maybe, but mainly I just want a common thread to discuss art.<br /><br />I just feel cheated by the perversion provided to us toward that end. If there is a market for this kind of communal online art event, is it possible to find one of greater substance?j_d_hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05541529824228408514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-27683067052808618552010-08-17T18:33:09.871-04:002010-08-17T18:33:09.871-04:00Hi William, I enjoyed reading your rant. My name ...Hi William, I enjoyed reading your rant. My name is Judith Braun, and, you may recognize, I was a contestant on Work of Art. I'm not going to write a defense of the show!!!.... just an explanation of my going on and a few other thoughts. <br /><br />I'm happy to say that I was shown, in the first episode, rolling my eyes when China announced the title, The Next Great Artist, and I'm grateful that Bravo gave me that moment on tape...for posterity. I was also the one that scoffed at the book cover challenge and was basically booted for insubordination with my "Edirp and Ecidujerp" piece. Ken Johnson is on record saying that "the judges should have announced afterwards that it was a trick challenge, that everyone who fell for it goes home, and for sticking to her guns as an artist, Judith wins, game over." <br /><br /> Anyway, going back, when I heard about the auditions I just decided to try out because I thought it would be fun, to play the game, and even more so, to then watch myself on TV. As shallow as that may sound, I honestly never focused on the "meaning" of it for Art, or for my reputation, but purely as my own entertainment. I'm 62, have had an emerged, submerged, and, pleased to say, re-emerged art "career" that I believe can speak for itself. I actually think my approach to going on the show reflects a very basic self confidence about how seriously I really do take art. I simply figured I could walk and chew gum; be a real/serious artist, and play a game on TV.<br /><br />Sure I knew I'd be cast as the "older" artist, but that didn't feel like an insult or exploitation. I had no reservations about the idea that I might get teased. So what? For what? I know what I've done, where I've been...and not been... and I'm pretty clear about where I am in the whole big scheme of things. (totally aside from the tv show). I have nothing to pretend and nothing to hide. <br /><br /> I'm one of those that thinks Art is what makes the universe alive, beyond just a bunch of stuff vibrating . So the TV producers may have had their mission to make art more accessible, while I myself am in it for the mystery. None of that was at risk for me by being on the show. <br /><br />Now that I've done it and watched all the edited episodes, and all the crappy projects that were produced, and all the sound bites and whatever, it is obviously not a representation of what it's all about for us true believers and practitioners...but I never thought it would be. So I'm not cringing... because who cares!? And in some circles, I admit, I'm one of the worst trash talkers about many aspects of it all. But it still has nothing to do with how I think about art and how I will continue to live my life as an artist. <br /><br />So this isn't to convince you of anything, only to share a bit of my own experience from actually doing it. I have no regrets because that's my life policy in general. I'm not sure if this is a perfect analogy for me, but recently I compared it to taking LSD, in the sense that when I decided to "do it" I had no idea what was about to happen, but I was seeking a sort of "through the looking-glass" experience for myself. Ok...nuff rambling, and thank for reading! Judithjudith braunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14387508863356404085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-34004223680441520772010-08-17T15:43:11.377-04:002010-08-17T15:43:11.377-04:00Your expanded rant reminds me of my Tumblr complai...Your expanded rant reminds me of my Tumblr complaint from June: http://blackvon.tumblr.com/day/2010/06/14. Producers are looking for great personalities and stories, whether they are Bravo crack-heads or PBS's Art:21 highbrow masterminds. It's not about art, it's about TV. Some artists can make interesting subjects, but TV has always failed to clearly portray the art.<br /><br />I am even more creeped out by the fact Bravo owns all their art. I wonder if they do that on other shows, does Bravo own the rights of all the recipes on "Top Chef"? Less valuable, but still.Michellehttp://michellevaughan.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7605347813359938011.post-30023997437374548352010-08-17T14:03:27.858-04:002010-08-17T14:03:27.858-04:00I like what you came to at the end of your article...I like what you came to at the end of your article. About what maybe actually is disappointing you- it tells what is informing your opinions & perspectives. I come from a wholly different place. I am this person outside of the circle of the art world; in fact I am *outside* of the outside of the circle of the art world. Anyway, I live in dualities in a lot of ways (I am a stay-at-home-mom artist in a suburb on the other coast, surrounded by “middle-america” thinkers who I love and yes I am a thinking artist.) I really don’t have any artist friends, still I know contemporary art well enough; I know what I like when I see it. My life finally allows me to make art again sort of, entertaining my children while I am working (who can work in these conditions!) :), & I take them with me into my studio as my studio assistants– they are the unknown variable that informs my work (what choice do I have?) :). I’m not young anymore, but my portfolio is immature since I took the scenic route in my career. I get to have that indignity. I don’t care about commercial contexts of WoA or any art for that matter. It doesn’t make me angry. I just don’t care. I don’t care if WoA upends West Chelsea art. Because probably there’s good in mixing it up. I don’t care about how we as audience are delivered to the advertisers. The joke is on them- I take what I want & need from this show or any art. No one makes me like or buy anything. <br /><br />I define myself here, bec. I must say- I liked WoA, really I did. Maybe it helped that I watched it all at once the weekend before last (but waited for finale like everyone else)- ALL these episodes in one weekend because I had kids with the flu so we were trapped at home. I didn’t get into personality dramas and who wore what. I saw it as one whole experience. I know enough to see past the BFA constructs in the assignments. I know it was soundbites. But- I read between the lines, the crits pointed me back to ones I’ve heard before, I could fill in the blanks. *You* didn’t need this WoA show, and this show frustrated you. (And you seem to care deeply about the show’s role in the shaping of culture- I’m not addressing that right now.) But *I* needed this show. It’s not because it offers up art exposure to me. (There were pieces I did like tho.) I can visit galleries & museums, I get to see a lot of end-product art. WoA for me was just a window into other artist’s processes (who cares if they weren’t stars!), seeing their funky haphazard 24hr failures & their joy when something worked… At art school there was so much pretension... nay– in life there is so much pretension. Everyone acts like they know what they are doing, they want to be the expert. Who really is the expert? This show gave me a chance to see artists, experts, buyers… opine, sound stupid sometimes, roll their eyes, sigh, critique, make mistakes, AND get it right on, too. Loved that. Post-episode articles gave me even more back-story. Seeing people interact about art, talk about art… happy happy. You are in the middle of it, you get that in real life. You love your life. ?. I love mine. You hang with other artists & drink until the wee hours. I don’t. I get woken up twice a night by a 4 year old for various reasons. Lucky you for being in the middle of this art world thing, having the luxury to not need something like this, lucky you for having your work loved or not loved by people, for having time & energy to make work, time to stare at walls, lucky you for having an audience of any kind. You didn’t need this show. But I did. It opened up a world to me that I am not in, made it accessible. I don’t expect it to give me all the answers, and probably I will need Season 2 for the illusion of being surrounded by practicing artists again. It makes me work more. And I loved people watching in this reality TV art “false construct.” However false it was, it was built out of pieces of real. <br /><br />And if that’s all I’ve got, I’ll take it. Happily!Maritza Ruiz Kimhttp://maritzaruizkim.com/noreply@blogger.com