Educational Media Reviews Online

Equipped with journalistic curiosity and a dose of mischief, collaborators Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid, Russian avant-garde artists based in New York City, embark on a road trip in the United Kingdom. Their mission-to define and paint the most and least wanted paintings of the people-will be accomplished through scientific inquiry. The video chronicles their conceptual project and its conclusion.

They commissioned market research to conduct polls, convene focus groups, and collect data from a statistical sampling. Additionally, the artists traveled the countryside, meeting and interviewing a diverse group with many perspectives on art, including a miner, a tattoo artist, housewives, amateur artists, a designer, an earl, a curator, and a tattoo artist. The majority preferences were identified, as people responded to questions and comments that isolated individual artistic elements: If you had to name one color as your favorite, which color would that be? Do you prefer fully clothed, partially clothed, or nude figures? Do you like paintings that are busy or simple?

Fast forward three months, and Komar and Melamid have completed their paintings, which are revealed to an invited audience. The least wanted painting is a small, abstract, with lots of angles and some religious imagery and is painted in the colors of fuchsia, white, and gray. Everyone in attendance moans in agreement; this is truly an ugly painting. The most wanted painting is larger in size, a landscape with a historical figure (Winston Churchill), a family, and some wild animals, that is strongly derivative of the work of British landscape painter John Constable and dominated by the color blue. The audience is noticeably and vocally disappointed. They laugh and declare the "most wanted" painting to be "bad." Melamid responds, "That's what you deserve. That's what you asked for."

Among the lessons learned is the obvious, that art is not formulaic. But what is art? What criteria can best recognize "good" art and assess it? How is the art market affected by popular taste? With tongue-in-cheek humor and the aplomb of seasoned entertainers, the artists raise and address serious issues. This video is an effective educational tool to frame a meaningful discussion on art and its place in society. It will be enjoyed by high school level and above. Highly recommended.