S3.E10: Finale

[Door County Cherry]

Quote

In an intense eight-hour challenge, the final two artists create two very different installations.  Both wow the judges, but only one can be the winner. 

Airs July 22, 2022

[Door County Cherry]

Neither installation blew me away.  I'm sorry Minhi(?) had so much trouble but John's win was predictable.   He won over half the challenges.

[Taeolas]

Mihni really filled the space and it was more visually impressive, especially on the TV screen. 

John's was harder to see I think, but the bunny was incredible. 

I agree as a finale piece, neither really blew me away, but I would've given the edge to Mihni. 

The overall record spoke for itself, and I'm fine with John winning. 

And as a side note, I swear Mihni with glasses (in the talking heads) and without glasses (usually in the judging) was two different people; she looked so different. 

[GaT]

I'm OK with the winner, I probably would have been OK with any of them winning. For some reason, I just wasn't as interested in this season as the first two, & found my attention drifting a lot of times. I really don't know why though, it just didn't hold my attention.

[TrixieTrue]

On 7/23/2022 at 9:47 PM, Taeolas said:

Mihni really filled the space and it was more visually impressive, especially on the TV screen. 

John's was harder to see I think, but the bunny was incredible. 

I agree as a finale piece, neither really blew me away, but I would've given the edge to Mihni. 

The overall record spoke for itself, and I'm fine with John winning. 

And as a side note, I swear Mihni with glasses (in the talking heads) and without glasses (usually in the judging) was two different people; she looked so different. 

I really liked the small plant coming up that he did. I wish he had done several of those and not just one. That would have filled the space more. It also made it more clear with what the white glass represented. It wasn't obvious (to me, at least) in the bigger one, but I saw it right away in the small one. 

[dleighg]

If Minhi had won, how on earth could that thing *ever* have been transported to the Corning Museum, with how delicate it was, and being glued together?

I would have loved to have seen how her original idea of the Murrine technique would have looked. A bit of googling showed that it is way cooler than how the globe eventually turned out. 

[Eliza422]

I'm disappointed Minhi didn't win. I liked her piece a lot better, I felt the very simple shapes and movement really had strong feelings.

I liked the one plant portion of John's piece better than the bigger section.

Really throughout this whole season there weren't any really bad pieces to me - I think the level of skill was very high this year.

I do wish they would have longer episodes so we could learn more about glass making. Thinking off Pottery Throwndown, or Face Off for special effects - I think in those you got a really good idea how the craft worked.

[akg]

On 7/26/2022 at 3:32 PM, GaT said:

For some reason, I just wasn't as interested in this season as the first two, & found my attention drifting a lot of times. I really don't know why though, it just didn't hold my attention

I agree but I think part of it, for me, was that I wasn't as impressed with John as the judges were. His wins became super predictable, no matter what he made.

[qtpye]

On 7/26/2022 at 3:32 PM, GaT said:

I'm OK with the winner, I probably would have been OK with any of them winning. For some reason, I just wasn't as interested in this season as the first two, & found my attention drifting a lot of times. I really don't know why though, it just didn't hold my attention.

I usually loved these types of shows but this season really bored me.

7 hours ago, akg said:

I agree but I think part of it, for me, was that I wasn't as impressed with John as the judges were. His wins became super predictable, no matter what he made.

Maybe. 

I have already forgotten what he did, yet, I still remember the sausage and egg installation that won the first season.

[Starry-Eyed]

On 7/30/2022 at 10:10 AM, dleighg said:

If Minhi had won, how on earth could that thing *ever* have been transported to the Corning Museum, with how delicate it was, and being glued together?

I have no idea about transporting art glass - but I assume the Corning Museum does it on the regular and probably has lots of gear and expertise to make it happen. I would assume it would have been disassembled and the glue removed, and then it would have been re-assembled at the Corning Museum. It probably would have looked even better, since they dinged her for silicone being visible and messy, and it would have been re-installed with more time, care, and expertise.

[xander874]

I was okay with the win - I actually really liked the through-the-floor installation - but I agree that this season was blah. To me, it's for 2 reasons: 1) The episodes were short which didn't give a lot of time for insight into the process and developing personalities (Minhi was the exception) and 2) The challenges were static. I feel like in past seasons, they were challenged to try different techniques and types of glass, whereas this season was all art pieces. I want a mix of both so I can see the range of an artist. It would be like Bake-Off only making cakes.

I've never been a fan of the way they discuss with the artists after they've judged but I think with even shorter episodes, that segment is especially worthless. I never really get much insight that changes my view. I'd rather have real-time critiques with the contestants so a discussion can be had.

[TVbitch]

They do spend a lot of time on this show NOT showing/teaching us about glass blowing. They could do away with the canned patter of the hosts and guest judge and some of the music montages/slo mo of the artists and give us more about the craft.

I was really disappointed with John's final piece. The end result looked like smashed floor tiles with a stream of some sort underneath. I did not understand the blue rocks?! I only really got the "life prevails" feeling from the lone sprig coming up.

I didn't mind Minhi doing a season long meditation on her grief, but her piece disappointed me too, in that the tar looked "pretty" being super shiny and smooth. I thought the tar should be textured and sticky and look like the "hope" had to fight its way out. Bummer she was unable to make the superior orb, cuz that one did look a bit hot air balloon. 

I was actually surprised when John won, but I guess they went with the whole season performance. 

[Bruinsfan]

On 8/3/2022 at 6:52 PM, akg said:

I agree but I think part of it, for me, was that I wasn't as impressed with John as the judges were. His wins became super predictable, no matter what he made.

Yeah, his technique didn't really impress me much except in the first challenge and the enlarged object one, though I thought he was conceptually strong in the pairs challenge (did John C. contribute any conceptual input to that?) and the personal fears one. Most of his work struck me as rough and amateurish looking despite the amount of work he put into it.

If I were walking into his installation at the Corning Musuem unaware, I'd be looking around for a sign that unauthorized personnel should keep out while they were assembling the rest of it.