Hasta La Ideas

Returning to another story from days past: first, way back at the start of last year, we told you about a rumor that Sarah Jessica Parker‘s production company was planning a reality show/competition about the contemporary art world. Then, this April, we informed you about the Bravo network’s upcoming “fill the void left by the departure of “Project Runway” lineup, which included Parker’s then-titled “American Artist.” Now, thanks to PSFK, we find that we can continue talking about this show’s slow creep into existence with Bravo’s release of an official casting call for the show (now without a title, only referred to as “The Untitled Art Project.”) Casting starts a week from Saturday (the 11th) in Los Angeles then winds its way through Miami, Chicago, and New York until the middle of the month. With the announcement comes this description of who they’re looking for:

How do you go from struggling, emerging or even semi-established artist to selling a complete show for $198 million? It’s a big art world out there, but maybe this is one place to start!

…We want contemporary artists. Your medium could be one of many (or several of many) – painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, mixed-media – we want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know.

This whole thing, as it inches forward, is like driving past a car wreck in super slow motion. We won’t pass any serious judgement on the show until we’ve seen it, but the only way we see this thing being enjoyable is 1) get Damien Hirst to host it (that will help explain the “art is only for the money” angle) and 2) at the very end, when a winner is selected and they’re given a big pile of money as their prize, The KLF jumps out from behind a curtain and sets fire to it.