Bravo's got a real Work of Art here

I'm at the half-way point of the new Bravo show "Work of Art," a reality show much in the vein of "Top Chef" only this time with artists.

I found the premise to be really interesting, I mean I have nothing in common with models or chefs, but I am an artist so I thought that maybe this show would appeal to me. Oh god no, that is not true at all. It's like a train wreck that I can't stop watching because I have to see if my predictions are true.

The entire show is just like the worst of university art programs all rolled into one show. What's wrong with it you ask?

Well to start with the tasks are incredibly vague and yet the judges will still claim that a particular artist didn't do what they were asked. In one particularly galling episode they take the artist for rides around NY City in Audi's and then ask them to create a work of art that shows that experience.
That's right, they wanted a piece of art based on a 20min car ride. Do you know what that means? I don't. Certainly I don't know what a representation of a feeling of taking a car ride would look like, so I could never say that someone failed to show it. But the judges do and then they change their minds about what the task was! After the works are finished! Now, as they walk the gallery judging the art, they say that the task was to create a "space." What the hell does that mean, "A space?"
But you see this sudden topic change happened because golden boy, Miles, who decided to take a nap while everyone else was working, created, in his words, "a quiet space." And they can not praise him enough. It really exposes how unaccepting of change these judges are, because Miles is just doing the same lazy "Modern" shit that has been done a million times before.

In addition to the vague and changing tasks, and their abnormal love for Miles, they also seem to be obsessed with seeing the pretty young female artist, Jaclyn, naked. They keep asking her to make herself "more open" and "more vulnerable" which seems to translate into naked because that's the only time they seem to like her work.
Okay that's not entirely fair, she did do a piece that involved men who were looking at her. But still what the judges liked was the fact that people were looking at her. They are obsessed with gazing and seeing other people gaze at this woman. It's rather disturbing because despite the fact that they act like high art critics they are pandering to the idea that only sex sells and that's all pretty women are good for.

The worst part of it all is just how boring and rushed the work is. No artist does their best work in under 24 hours, and yet that's what this show wants them to do. It causes good artists to create shitty and rushed work, and then criticize them for it. The only one who does well in this show is Miles because the judges love him so he can do whatever he wants. No seriously, he couldn't come up with an idea for one task so he copied a previous work of his and they said nothing!

If you are thinking about going into university for art, watch this show because that is what four years of your life is going to be like. Vague tasks, rushed work, useless critiques, and that one guy who doesn't try at all yet the prof loves everything they do. The real trick is the bullshit. By which I mean the artist's explanation of the work. In situations like this where the artist is disengaged from their work the explanation becomes bullshit spouted in an attempt to make the prof/judge think that it's deep. It makes you feel dirty. I know I hated myself every time I spouted a line just to get an A.

Despite it all the show is enjoyable enough. I mean things that get me fired up even in a bad way still entertain, but really it's just too boring to continue on to a second season. That's not to say that it won't. I mean "Top Model," "Top Chef," and "Project Runway" are all still going strong. This will just be another drop in the bucket. I'm only saddened by the fact that Bravo seems to be going the way of A&E. Remember when A&E did "Biography?" Ya, those were good times.