Can Reality TV Save the Fine Arts? Body Painter Robin Slonina (Skin Wars) on Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast #47

Fine art and reality TV are typically rated our highest and lowest forms of entertainment, yet creative competition shows combine the two. Robin Slonina graduated from Chicago's Art Institute and lived in the gallery world doing sculptures, paintings and installations for several years before discovering body painting and opening Skin City Body Painting in Las Vegas, perhaps the foremost institution of its type in the world.

Robin then served as a judge (along with RuPaul!) on the show Skin Wars for its three seasons (2014-2017) before The Game Show Network decided that the whole thing was too expensive to produce. She joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to figure out the degree to which the competition reality show format lets the art shine through.

To learn more, scan these relevant articles:

"The Best Creative Skill Reality Series Ever" at Ranker
"The Good, The Bad and the OMFG: Art's Complicated Relationship with Reality Television" by Shannon Lee
"10 Years Later, a Look Back at Art’s First Reality Show" by Kat Herriman
"Skill-Based Contests Are the Best Kind of Reality TV" by Margaret Lions
"25 Bonkers Reality Competition Shows You Forgot Existed" by Reid Nakamura
"Weekly Q&A: Robin Slonina on Emphemeral Art, Dirty Charades and 'Skin Wars'" by Leslie Ventura

Learn more at prettymuchpop.com. This episode includes bonus discussion with Robin about public art and the protests that you can only hear by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life podcast network.

Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast is the first podcast curated by Open Culture. Browse all Pretty Much Pop posts or start with the first episode.

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