I do wonder where exactly the line is drawn to disqualify applicants with too much experience. Technically, the definition of being a professional is that someone pays you so if you get a table in the basement at the village hall and sell a piece of your work to a neighbor, you've crossed that threshold (and so many amateurs sell their work on etsy these days too). Obviously there's a big difference between someone who can support themselves full time with their art and a hobbyist but there's a lot of grey area in between and it might be hard to find an easy way to determine what is an unfair advantage.
This has been going on since the first season though. Matthew, who won S1, had an undergrad degree in ceramics as well as a post graduate certificate in ceramics. When he competed on the show, he was a ceramics artist in residence and an art teacher. Both of his parents were potters too. In S2, the first person who was eliminated was a pottery teacher and one of the finalists was a part time illustrator (her full time day job was accounting).
In the early seasons of American Idol, the rule was that you were not eligible if you had ever had a recording contract. This seems pretty black and white but I'm pretty sure there was a girl who made it past the initial rounds and then was cut because she had signed a record contract as a teenager but never released an album. She thought this meant she was still eligible but the producers disagreed.
I agree that there should be a way to level the playing field in general but I think it's a little more difficult when it comes to art because it can be hard to quantify how much is too much with a general rule. But I would love to see a second version of the show with more experienced potters! Interestingly, on Blown Away, there are really well known professional glass blowers who are competing against people with very little experience. As someone who doesn't know a lot about glass blowing, sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking at their pieces (although I'm sure it's a lot more obvious to the judges).
Matthew, who won S1, had an undergrad degree in ceramics as well as a post graduate certificate in ceramics. When he competed on the show, he was a ceramics artist in residence and an art teacher.
Well, with that sort of background it's no surprise that he won? This is the reason why there should be a version of this show where people like Matthew, Donna, etc play against each other, not against hobbyists who throw maybe twice a week at the neighborhood art center. Personally, I think if you have a degree in pottery or ceramics that should be enough to disqualify you.
I totally agree that Matthew shouldn't have been competing against everyone else since he clearly had a huge advantage. I remember in the very first episode (before all of the other info about him having a degree and teaching ceramics were mentioned), he said that both of his parents were potters so he'd been doing it since he was a child. Even then, I was like wow, that seems like a pretty sizable advantage over just about anyone else. But when the season went on and the show revealed the other stuff, I was like how is this guy allowed to be on the show?
Honestly, even the people who have their own potting sheds are at an advantage over someone who has a full time job, doesn't have the money or yard space to create their own pottery, or can only go to a studio on the weekends but Matthew's presence was pretty egregious since he had just about every advantage you could possibly have (lifelong access, time, money, a degree, professional experience, etc).
This has been going on since the first season though. Matthew, who won S1, had an undergrad degree in ceramics as well as a post graduate certificate in ceramics. When he competed on the show, he was a ceramics artist in residence and an art teacher. Both of his parents were potters too. In S2, the first person who was eliminated was a pottery teacher and one of the finalists was a part time illustrator (her full time day job was accounting).
In the early seasons of American Idol, the rule was that you were not eligible if you had ever had a recording contract. This seems pretty black and white but I'm pretty sure there was a girl who made it past the initial rounds and then was cut because she had signed a record contract as a teenager but never released an album. She thought this meant she was still eligible but the producers disagreed.
I agree that there should be a way to level the playing field in general but I think it's a little more difficult when it comes to art because it can be hard to quantify how much is too much with a general rule. But I would love to see a second version of the show with more experienced potters! Interestingly, on Blown Away, there are really well known professional glass blowers who are competing against people with very little experience. As someone who doesn't know a lot about glass blowing, sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking at their pieces (although I'm sure it's a lot more obvious to the judges).
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Well, with that sort of background it's no surprise that he won? This is the reason why there should be a version of this show where people like Matthew, Donna, etc play against each other, not against hobbyists who throw maybe twice a week at the neighborhood art center. Personally, I think if you have a degree in pottery or ceramics that should be enough to disqualify you.
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I totally agree that Matthew shouldn't have been competing against everyone else since he clearly had a huge advantage. I remember in the very first episode (before all of the other info about him having a degree and teaching ceramics were mentioned), he said that both of his parents were potters so he'd been doing it since he was a child. Even then, I was like wow, that seems like a pretty sizable advantage over just about anyone else. But when the season went on and the show revealed the other stuff, I was like how is this guy allowed to be on the show?
Honestly, even the people who have their own potting sheds are at an advantage over someone who has a full time job, doesn't have the money or yard space to create their own pottery, or can only go to a studio on the weekends but Matthew's presence was pretty egregious since he had just about every advantage you could possibly have (lifelong access, time, money, a degree, professional experience, etc).
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