Win or lose… It’s how you play the game
There are no real winners or losers
for only a judgment stands between the two.
In life…
the real successes lie within your heart
in the sure knowledge that you have done your utmost
to achieve them.
Copyright - Jean Burman 2005
The air was heavy with expectation as the crowd milled… champagne in hand… around the gallery. They gathered for a moment at this painting… and then the next. After a while… the muffled conversation grew to a dull roar above the clatter and clink of glasses and the shuffle of innumerable feet. But for the assembled throng of artists collectors family and friends alike… there was just one burning question which hung heavily in the air that night…
“Who (out of those whose artwork hadn’t already been tossed out in the first round) will win… and who will be going home empty handed… and err… perhaps even more than a little bit broken hearted?” (grin)
The roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd had reached a “high” crescendo by the time the organisers took to the podium and the official proceedings got underway.
First the endless acknowledgments… then the obligatory speeches… followed by much shifting of weight from one foot to the other… and then… the introduction of the judge who had been flown in for the occasion from a prominent Gallery in the South. A thin veil of cool headed confidence belied the truth as excited voices rippled around the room in anxious anticipation. After a last few glances around… silence finally fell… and all eyes now settled on the one person… whom it seemed in that moment… could singlehandedly exact complete control over virtually every possible outcome on the planet!
A pregnant pause ensued… followed by the “clanger” from the Master of Ceremonies (in an ill-fated attempt at humour)…
‘that the judge would not be joining us for dinner afterall… and as a matter of fact… upon delivery of her verdict would be taking the first plane out!’ Groan… yeah right very funny. The crowd chuckled anxiously… and shuffled some more.
For the judge’s part… it was now her onerous task to deliver her verdict to the assembled masses. She already knew it would be a contentious choice… as always… regardless of the particulars of any given competition… the judge’s decision almost always elicits the same trifecta of emotions to pretty much all hopeful contestants!
This trifecta traditionally consists of :
1. initial relief that the anticipation is finally over…
followed by
2. shock… (usually commensurate with whether one has won or lost!)
followed (with almost indecent haste) by
3. unbridled joy and/or indignant grief often accompanied by feelings of abject despair and discouragement (again usually commensurate with whether one has won or lost! *wink*)
One by one… the winning artworks were announced… each one greeted by a round of enthusiastic applause (it’s always amazed me how people manage to clap one-handed without splashing champagne all over the place - grin)
By the end of proceedings with attention spans stretched to the max… conversations had again reached fever pitch… and before the organisers could formally wrap up the event and present the judge’s flowers… the crowd had already begun to thin.
A quick reconnoitre of the room at that point gave closure to the event. Winners basked in the warm glow of success… whilst those who missed out this time round laughed off their disappointment in good natured banter with friends. The dissatisfied and disenchanted slipped silently into the shadows and away into the night to lick their wounds…
No doubt there would be the inevitable carve up… the de-brief if you will… with all the attendant behind the scenes bellyaching (a quaint behaviour oft linked to fragile artistic sensibilities) about who did and didn’t win… who should have… but more importantly who shouldn’t have. It’s a strange and mysterious fact that such behaviour almost always follows on from pretty much all “subjective”competition such as this.
Let’s face it… it’s a lottery… nothing more… nothing less.
Oddly… the infamous words of the 1997 song by the Sunscreen Man spring suddenly to mind… and seem somehow appropriate here!
“Whatever you do… don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either… your choices are half chance… so are everybody elses”
and this….
“Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead… sometimes you’re behind… the race is long and in the end… it’s only with yourself”
In fact… here’s the clip for those who’ve never heard it before… for those who have… you might enjoy a re-visit to Baz Luhrmann’s little epiphany from 1997.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
“Art is not a competitive sport” Roger Marz 2003
October 24th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Ooooh Roger! I do have to agree….it is all about where your “head” is at the time! But….art is expressing how you feel, whether you see that at the time , is a Russian roulett!
October 25th, 2007 at 2:50 am
I do agree! To me, personally, the only competition in art that matters is that with myself. A “First Place” in any show comes down to the personal choice of often only one person, who on another day might have bestowed that honor on someone else’s work. -Looks like you had a good time!–Anita
October 25th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Jean I could not get the sound on the clip you had (my computer problems!). I have learned just recently that Art Comps are all about “networking” and being seen - nothing to do with a prize. I have sold a couple of paintings lately straight out of my studio (I now have 2 people collecting!!!) they were paintings that were not put into exhibitions or competitions, they just happened to strike the fancy of someone who happened to walk through my door. But these people came because they knew of me because I had “been seen” at exhibitions and competitions!!!
October 25th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Jools… have you got your sound turned on? There’s a small icon on the bottom right of your screen (looks like a little speaker) Click on that and you can usually un-mute and adjust the volume. Do you have speakers?
It’s a great clip… I hope people take the time to let it load and have a listen… because the message is a good one.
I think you’re right about exposure. Competitive exhibitions are great for exposure… even when (and especially when) the judge’s decision is controversial (which happens often! LOL) It all gets people talking and looking. You know what they say… any publicity is better than no publicity at all! LOL
On the flip side (and in defence of competition)… sometimes it can be a very positive thing… providing the “fire in the belly” for artists to rise to the challenge and stretch their abilities in an attempt to reach farther than they might otherwise have thought possible.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Oh yes Jean…I learned that lately as well!!!!!! Lookout “general public” I am rising to the occasion! Since the competition I recently entered into, I have noticed a distinct change in my work…I think it is better. I am working harder without realising it until I finish the next painting. I shall be going into another exhibition this weekend..with all brand new paintings! Nine in all.
October 26th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Jean, there has always been a problem with the sound on this computer and I’m afraid my personal “technician” is not home yet!!!!
October 27th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Oh… and in case anyone was wondering… the small painting under mine (in the photograph above) took out the $2000 first prize “for watercolour” on this occasion. It’s an excellent little painting… with great composition… a graphic quality… and a harmonious and very pleasing colour scheme.
The painting appears to have been executed in watercolour… (although it could have equally been gouache - or acrylic) and was painted on what appears to have been canvas textured acrylic paper. To my disappointment (as a died in the wool watercolour purist) a liberal use of pigment had been employed to claim back the whites. Anyone who knows anything about watercolour knows that the holy grail of watercolour technique is the ability to cut around and save your whites (as the white of the paper). To me it lacked the fluid qualities of the medium… which in my opinion defeats the purpose of using watercolour in the first place.
But… that’s just me. Like I said… it’s subjective at best…
(Oh and… I should mention… Conspiracy Theory took out the Highly Commended award which as you can see… I was pretty happy about) LOL
October 27th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Jean… I would be totally horrified if you were ever under threat of a bushfire (number one…your climate is soooo wet!!!) No 2…..I would totally wet my pants if I ever got ‘highly commended”!!! Well done girl!!! I do love the painting!!!
October 28th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Jools… strange as it may seem… we have had bush fires here in the past despite our mostly wet climate! We lost the whole front garden a couple of years ago when a wildfire rounded the hill at the front of our place. Luckily the fire brigade were here to do their job and put out spot fires around the house as they sprung up. At one point the fire was burning on two sides of our house. I had wet towels plugged under the doors to keep the smoke out. There was a time when bushfires came over and around the hills around here each and every year… but there are more houses in our area now which keeps the open areas of long grass and scrub down to a minimum. I hope it rains in California soon.
Thanks for mentioning “the girls”… I had an inkling they might do me proud… such a couple of gossips those two! LOL
October 29th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
“Wet Season” just around the corner for you!!! It officially starts November1st? We have been having some very “Noisey” storms, but not much rain in them I’m afraid. I worry for the people in the Blue Mts (between Sydney and here) they always have raging fires!!!!! I have noticed the advertising campaign for fire safety has begun in earnest - what to do, where to go, very informative! I hope people pay attention to it.
Credit given, where credit is due…your girls are excellent!
October 31st, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Hi all I find there is a subteranian competitive strain here …..smiles,nudges,and less than postive aclaim between artists. Maybe that shows up a lack in myself huh?
I used to know that “very colourful” was not a complement but now thing are so sophisticated I just go on feelings . Body langwige etc.
When my sister and family lived in Wollongong we were forever afraid of the fires no matter how far away she told us they were …on the atlas thay were right next door.
Elinor Mc
October 31st, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Ps here ,meaning right here in Tighnabruaich EMMC
November 1st, 2007 at 7:08 am
QUOTE ElinorMc: I find there is a subteranian competitive strain here …..smiles,nudges,and less than positive aclaim between artists UNQUOTE
It’s human nature I guess Elinor. That behaviour is everywhere. And when you look back at artists throughout history it was pretty much the same. There was jealousy and competition between the best of them. Maybe it was a driving force back then… in those pistol-packing absynthe soaked days in the back streets of Paris! Somehow… being an artist was way more colourful then… (or is it my rose coloured glasses) Artists these days are way less demonstrative… but there’s a tidal wave of innuendo going on just below the surface. Maybe that’s what Conspiracy Theory was all about! (it just occurred to me!!)
Great to see you here Miss Mac!