As highly accomplished as his work was, it was a...

12th August 2010

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As highly accomplished as his work was, it was a bit too much in a highly conceptualized, self-reflexive, intensely theorized, and familiar quasi-visual idiom. Miles had lost by winning. He got so close to a good idea of art, that the art he got close to wasn’t entirely his own. I began to understand that this had been happening all along. Indeed, it had been there in his first digital black-and-white portrait of Nao. I think Miles should move to New York and be poor and stay up late with thousands of other young artists. Then, in five years, he could be an artist to reckon with. That he lost this reality TV show will one day actually help him.

Abdi, on the other hand, had won by losing all along. He won by extending himself and his art, expanding on his weak ideas and making them work for and not against him. Abdi won by not being cynical; by actually putting himself through an emotional-aesthetic wringer; reaching deeper. Abdi’s Brooklyn Museum show probably won’t be a hit with the art world. However, I can imagine museum crowds getting a lot out of his work, and that his small show might even teach the art world something about its own openness or lack thereof.

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I agree with Jerry Saltz’s reasoning for why Work of Art’s golden boy, Miles, had to lose. I also appreciate that an artist can win by not being cynical; he can be rewarded for his selfless approach and sincerity, even if only within the reality tv sphere. Abdi was championed because he worked within his own limited parameters and not because he attempted to fit some nifty cliché of what an artist should be. He was recognized because he had struggled and learned from his, sometimes embarrassing, failures.

I am reluctant to say that Miles was a cliché…but I would not be surprised if part of his art is the careful construction of persona. Let’s look at what we, the viewers, learned about Miles: He’s an obsessive-compulsive art-boy wonder who can only seek refuge from the mania of his mind through sleep. He’s very cute in spite of the mauvy bags hanging limply under his eyes. He’s good with power tools. He’s sort of a hornball, but offhandedly so. He’s from the Midwest. He constantly needs to create comfort for himself in this overwhelming situation and highly stimulating urban environment. His art reflects this quest for solace but in a way that is rather impersonal. When I look at Mile’s work, I feel like I am being seduced in this underhanded way that is both flattering and unsatisfying.

Everyone that is a part of Work of Art’s audience can find something that attracts them to Mile’s character, even if the initial attraction only serves as a way to repulse them. Yes, fellow contestant Ryan called him a “douche.” And Ryan is probably right. But even being a “douche” seems to somehow enhance the magnetism and power of his persona and, subsequently, his work.

Abdi was all wide-eyed gratitude this entire season. However, I wasn’t officially an Abdi supporter until I saw his finished product in the penultimate episode. There was something honest there, something that even at my most jaded, I could not fully reject as art school pap. I am not entirely convinced that either Miles or Abdi are true artists (whatever that means), but I am glad that the masses tuning into cable television are given the opportunity to (re)evaluate for themselves what is usually left up to a small and cynical elite.

And I will miss this:

For Your Pleasure