“Fungus Study” Wins Spot in “Work of Art” Final
I don’t know about anyone else, but I have been enjoying the Bravo show “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.” It’s one of those reality competition shows (like “Top Chef” or “Project Runway”) but with artists competing each week on a different challenge. I like it because of the creativity and expression, and because the personalities are interesting too. This goes for both the artists and the judges.
In the next to final qualifying round, the remaining five artists competed for one of three spots in the final competition. The winner will get a gallery show and $100k. Not bad as far as inspiration goes. The challenge was to create something inspired by a trip to a nature preserve and to also use something collected at the preserve as a component of the work.
Like him or not, one of the most (maybe even THE most) interesting artists on the show is Miles. He is weird, quirky, unedited, and yes perhaps a bit manipulative. But, I happen to like his work. As it turns out, he made it into the final three with his nature-inspired work “Fungus Study, Vol. #1″ He found a dried mushroom of some sort (couldn’t really tell what it was) on a piece of dead wood and used that to launch into a rather tangential interpretation. It was cool though, and he included the whole fungus on a little shelf as part of his installation.
Here is what Jeanne Greenberg, one of the judges, had to say about Miles in one of her blog posts:
On the show I say that Miles’s work is without humor. Yet, behind the scenes he projects a sinister wit. His obsession with poisonous or dangerous materials pops up episode after episode, and his hole poking contraption was, in retrospect, rather absurd. I stand corrected, his humor is hidden behind a dry practice. Miles starts with a kernel of an idea, and then grows it out. This additive approach can be limiting if the starting idea, in this case the parasitic fungus, is all you have. Especially given his self-described incapacity to go beyond a set system. Hoping he breaks out of his mold (ha, ha).
Bravo makes it hard to get images off their site and I am sure this is a copyrighted image, but since I am using it in a review of sorts of their show, I think this low resolution image is fair use.
Fungus Study Vol.1 #1 by Miles from "Work of Art" Episode 109 (Barbara Nitke/Bravo)
So if you if you are a fan of art and appreciate creative processes check out “Work of Art.” I think you’ll get a kick out of it.
Tags: art, Bravo, creativity, Fungus Study, Jeanne Greenberg, Miles, nature, Work of Art
