Critiquing Work of Art

Continuing with my discussion of summer season finales we come to the ridiculousness that was Work of Art. I’ve already shared my views on why the overall concept for the show doesn’t work, so it is no surprise that the show’s finale was just as ridiculous. The final three contestants were Miles, Peregrine, and Abdi who were actually three strongest. Continuing the show’s mirrored Project Runway format, the contestants were sent home for 3 months to put together their own show. Tim Gunn stand-in Simon de Pury went on his house visits where we got to see how the artists worked and where they lived.

Peregrine was happily married to an equally artsy fellow and had an adorably eclectic house. I legitimately enjoyed her work on the show and was definitely rooting for her throughout the episode. Meanwhile we were introduced to Miles’ parents who seemed so normal compared to his neurotic disposition. His concept with the surveillance camera photos was really neat, but I didn’t quite get his other black and white piece. Abdi’s work was really disturbing to me, but I thought it was a strong concept.

When the contestants returned to NYC for their big show, it was revealed that there would be an extra surprise. I was expecting it to be that they need to make some additional piece, but it turns out that it was going to be an additional prize. A piece from the winner’s show would be auctioned off by the Phillips de Pury auction house that Simon runs. I thought that was a nice touch, but I was secretly hoping they’d make them add a piece to the collection.

The show's very strange judging panel.

The gallery showing was entertaining. Sarah Jessica Parker, the show’s producer, appeared to be completely shocked by all the pieces. There was rarely a shot shown of her where her hands were not on her face in exclamation. It was also really interesting to watch the reactions from previous contestants as they view the works. When it came time for judging, it was nice that each contestant got more time to really talk about their pieces than in previous episodes. Interestingly, the judges seemed to share my opinions on the works, which almost never happened before. They liked Miles’ work, but said the photos and black and white images felt disconnected. They felt that Peregrine’s work was very strong and loved her fawn fetus photo, but felt the carnival theme could’ve used some editing. Abdi’s work they loved, but felt was often to literal or could’ve been pushed further.

Based on the judges’ feedback that we were shown, I was convinced that Peregrine was going to win since her’s was the most positive. Miles was the first sent home, which was surprising to me since I thought his work was stronger than Abdi’s. Then it was revealed that Abdi was the winner. I did a double-take. Peregrine was far more consistent then he had been throughout the season. Additionally, no previous contestant who’s art was described as too “art school” had made it to the next round. It’s almost like the judges picked the winner just on the final show instead of on their body of work on the show. The latter is how the judging should pan out, but apparently the show decided to completely throw convention out the door. After the credits it was announced that Bravo was searching for contestants for the next season. I don’t get it. How can they do a second season when the first one was so ridiculous? I know that I will definitely not be watching unless they change the show’s format drastically. Or if another professor from my college is on it.