Now we’ve decided to fund the shoot and editing ourselves and approach it from a different angle.

Just tonight we were laughing at some of the really stupid stuff on TV and the irony of how cool our show is and the struggle to get it on a major network.

It’s a great question that you ask, and here’s my answer as to why there are no TV shows with Visual Artists as rockstars: Because someone hasn’t paved the way yet.

It’s coming.

You are so right about the voyeuristic nature of many people. For most people it is easier for them to watch people do things than to do it themselves! It is a concept I do not understand. As you say, most people just want to have other people’s lives to evaluate rather than take a hard look at their own. Sad, don’t you think?

I believe you are so right about this being a beginning. I talk about this concept every chance I get. This past spring I was invited to a literary magazine launch party in NYC because I had a photograph published in said publication. At that party, this is the one subject I talked about – artists working together for the common good of all art (and design). Not too long ago, I saw a show of Giada DeLaurentis (I know I probably have spelled her name incorrectly) where she and her husband hosted a show of one of their favorite artist’s work (of course she preapared the food). I am sure that artist has gotten a lot from that exposure! We need more of this kind of thing happening!

Thanks for this conservation, Miranda!

I think you’re right about your mirror idea. Art is traditionally more introspective and geared towards the individual experience. In our high-tech, fast-paced, in-your-face world, maybe it just can’t compete. These reality shows demonstrate our voyeuristic tendencies and perhaps people are more intersted in spying on other’s lives than examining their own!

Just to clarify, I didn’t mean to imply that interior design was easy. I absolutely agree with you that these shows present a very simplified version of decorating, that makes everyone think they can be their own designer. It just goes to show that people are interested in making their homes inviting through the use of visual aesthetics.

I love your idea of integrating the arts and working together to bring art back into people’s lives. The question is, how do we do it? Maybe this is a start!

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but will pose just a few here. First of all, visual art requires people to be still and contemplate what it is to be human. It is powerful and reflective and often I think viewers are terrified of the mirror the canvas holds up to them (see my current post for more about this particular thought http://kimrodefferfunk.com/blog ). It is a lot like classical music in that way.

You mentioned interior design. Well, my education and early professional background is in interior design, and what you are seeing on the television is often decoration rather than true design (yes, there is a tremendous difference). There is a great deal more to that profession than meets the eye which is often true of any true art you see on the tv clips.

When we lived in England the BBC did a (6 week, I think) series they called “Art School”. One of the art schools in London (I think it was Chelsea College of Art) brought in a number of well known people of various ages. Radio and TV personalities, chefs, journalists, etc. attended this program for the number of weeks designated and were put through their paces with various phases of learning and exploring visual arts. What happened is they not only got this program out of it, but these people learned a great respect for what the visual artist does and goes through and how challenging it is to do this day in and out! They talked about it using their various venues and as you may know since then the English Art Scene has flourished and they keep talking!

This brings me to my point, it seems to me what needs to happen is artists need to work together. Publishers need to stop relying on stock photos so much, musicians need to consider fine art for their backgrounds and albums, interior designers/decorators (especially on the shows) need to utilize origional works from emerging artists, chefs need to also include visual arts in their programs (referring to paintings on their sets and maybe even having the artist as a guest) and make sure their resturants have fine art associated with them. In other words, we have to stop being singular and we also have to stop relying on the computer to generate so much. We have to remember to promote the HUMAN aspect of Visual Fine Art! We all need to support each other! At least that is my idea!

Great Topic! I am sorry if I got carried away!