“Faking It”

Discuss the part of Faking It? that we watched - and provide a prediction: Will Paul manage to fool the experts? ..."fool"!? Why would he be a fake?

In the portion of the show “Faking It” that we saw in class, Paul O’hare, a house painter, was quickly transformed into a “fake” contemporary artist in an attempt to trick the art world of the United Kingdom. During his transformation, he had access to professional artists who taught and coached him. He took art classes in which he learned how to draw and paint using a variety of techniques. He was mentored how to understand art and speak its language. He even had professional critics come to educate him as to how art is critiqued and, as if that weren’t enough, he received a complete makeover so he could look the part of an artist.

I found the title of the show to be ironic. As Paul received more and more coaching from professionals, he became less of a fake. Instead of acting as a “fake” artist, the show does a better job converting him into a real artist (not a good artist, but a real artist nonetheless). Paul illustrated some key characteristics of professional artists in my opinion. First, he took his transformation seriously. Paul spent as much time as he could in the studio improving his artistic abilities. Second, his art was made with emotion and had profound meaning to him as he used it to express his disabilities from when he was a child. Third, Paul quickly learned to appreciate the art around him.

After listening to the professional critic’s evaluation of Paul’s artwork and demeanor, I do not believe he will manage to trick the experts. Paul’s art lacks depth that experienced artists typically capture and his novice knowledge of art is evident when he is in conversation. While I do not think he will fool the experts, I do believe Paul will have become a “real” artist by the end of the show. Paul’s inexperience and innocence in the art world doesn’t disable him from being able to produce meaningful art.