Work of Art

I don’t normally use this space to rage, but I really feel that this is a subject that,
a. I want to talk about and,
b. needs my meager input and my insight.

Bravo TV fired up the second season of “Work of Art.” I watched the first episode and I was not disappointed. The show gave me plenty of things to complain about.

I think a touch of background information is important here. I watched season one. The show is kind of like “Survivor” for “artists.” Each week they get an art challenge, and must complete a work in a very short time. The lovely China Chow tosses the loser with her catch phrase “your work of art didn’t work for us.”

Last season I did very little public commentary on the show, the one time I did was in Laguna Beach, when some people were talking about the show as they entered a gallery. As we passed, I did say that Miles (who ended up being in the final three) was a douche, which is a comment I stand by to this day.

So in the interest of providing season two with at least one great artist, I went to an open call for the show. I waited in the glaring sun of Los Angeles with about 400 other people for about four hours. I brought a portfolio of paintings and photographs. When I finally got in to see the inquisitors, the one comment that will forever stand out was “your work is really great; it is however, just photography.”

So I found it interesting that the guest judge on the first episode would be Mary Ellen Mark, a very accomplished and wonderful photographer. I was quite disappointed by the way the other judges seemed to treat Ms. Mark. I wanted to reach into the TV and choke Jerry Saltz when he rolled his eyes at one of Ms. Marks comments.

So I guess it really doesn’t matter if you’re amazingly famous, or just a guy from LA, because in the end your work is “just photography.”