Sorry for the delay on this post. My lack of cable is becoming an issue! And my sister, Tina, is visiting, which has been a delightful distraction.  Also, I’m having a difficult time finding photos from the show to accompany my posts. If anyone has any ideas on this one, please let me know. Okay, so enough with the apologies and excuses. Let’s get on with the show!

One of my pet peeves with the reality competition genre is the group challenge. I know it was conceived by producers to yield maximum drama, but it generally just offers mild conflict (if any) and subpar work. This episode of WOA with its group challenge was no exception.

The contestants were woken up early – another tired reality competition trope – to go out and see a group exhibiting Parkour, which was pretty cool and inspiring. If the challenge had been having the artists create a piece inspired by the Parkour performance, I think all would have been fine. But given that this is a reality game show first and foremost, the challenge was more complicated than that as everyone was shoved into two groups with each group coming up with a common theme related to the concept of motion around which each artist within the group would create an individual piece. Each group would also curate its own show. Got that? No? Neither did either group.

When the show’s mentor has to tell all the contestants that they need to rethink and start over after they’ve begun work (as Simon did here), you know the challenge is flawed. One group finally landed on a theme called Loop that involved spheres or something. The other group’s eventual theme of Playground was more intriguing.

I have to say that not a single piece this week impressed me. I won’t quibble with Bayeté’s win. He did a complete 180 from last week going from some overwrought piece that almost got him booted off the show to something simple in concept and execution that proved effective. It would have been nice if WEEEEE! had had another layer to add complexity. While visually captivating as most video presentations tend to be, it was a pretty literal presentation of motion.

It’s looking pretty obvious that Michelle is the judges’ favorite. Her piece, Dirty Playground, was somewhat clever and well constructed but failed to fulfill the requirements: something inspired by motion of the Parkour variety. It was an okay effort and not one that deserved any special recognition.

For me, the two pieces that were better than Michelle’s and should have been in a top three with Bayeté were Sarah’s Kiddie Ride and Jazz-Minh’s Flip. Both of these pieces were static in medium and presentation- one a photograph and one a sculpture – that evoked motion in an aesthetically challenging way that required the viewer to visually add the motion to the piece. That’s why, for me, making moving parts or a piece that is literally in motion is not interpreting motion it is making motion. I also loved that Jazz-Mihn actually used Parkour as the basis for her piece.

Which brings me to another issue that I had with this week’s show: the judging panel did not include an artist. I’m sorry, but gallerists and art critics do not have the same perspective on art as an artist. Gallerists are looking for what can sell and represent the business side of the art world that is, in my opinion, becoming too prominent. To have two gallerists on the panel and no artist practically makes the results this week illegitimate.

Now for the bottom. There were lots of candidates for these spots this week. I’m not going to go into too much detail because I don’t think the pieces warrant much analysis. And this week’s poor showing wasn’t because the artists aren’t talented but because some just didn’t respond well to the overly complicated and flawed challenge this week.

And I can’t disagree with getting rid of Kathryn who probably would have made a similar piece no matter what the challenge. As I mentioned last week, I feared she would be one note and she was. She has talent but needs to break out of her current rut or find a way to take it to the next level.

Good luck, Kathryn, and feel better!

So what do you think? Set your opinions in motion!