Wednesday, July 08, 2020

Home Is Where The Art Is (Series 2)

This week the second series of Home is Where the Art is started up in the afternoons on BBC1.
Nick Knowles returns with this inspiring series that challenges talented artists to make something amazing for the homes of people they've never met.

Three artists must turn detective and try to work out the buyer’s taste by snooping around their house - but when the two sides finally do meet, who will deliver best on the brief and win the coveted commission?
I was VERY critical of a number of aspects of the last series. So much so that my very post about it was titled Home Is Where the Art Is - needs a makeover!

So when I realised that the second series was being broadcast I was intrigued to see if they'd tackled any of the issues I'd raised in my blog posts (which they could hardly miss since there on the front page of Google just under the listing for the programme!

Episode Guide in the Radio Times online - today, tomorrow, Friday and Monday


What's changed

A number of aspects of the programme have changed - and I'll highlight them in the order I noticed them
  • They've gone from urban industrial warehouse to urban chic gallery setting!  But the presenter and format has very much stayed the same!
  • The locations for the clients seem to be more diverse. This is on the basis of three programmes which have had homes in Shropshire, Whitstable in Kent and the Wirral (across the Mersey from Liverpool). Last time it was VERY much oriented to northern locations - presumably because the company making the programme were working with commissioning executives based at the BBC Media City in Salford. (Amazing what moving the base of a company does for a wider perspective on the UK!)
  • The location of the homes of the artists are also more diverse. Last time they were typically around and about the area where the client lived. I think we're going to get the length and breadth of the UK this time around
  • The artists are very much professionals not amateurs - although, for a number, art is a second career.  Last time the call for entries for Series 1 was asking for amateurs - and a lot of amateurs applied - with some in the distinctly "hobby artist" category.  However a lot of professional artists who saw the call for entries realised what a great opportunity it was to market who they are, what they do and what their art looks like - and so they applied too! This time around the marketing asked 
Are you a talented passionate artist?
  • The artists get PROPERLY NAMED 
    • in the credits at the end of the programme
    • in the credits on the BBC website page for their episode

I claim a BIG victory!

I made a VERY big thing about the lack of credits in the last series for some very good reasons which I explained in the Call for Entries for this series
For all those saying that the names are said in the programme so why do they need the credits? 
Well a number of reasons:
  • to respect the work of professionals - just as the credits at the end of the programme respect the work of the people behind the scenes who make the programme
  • two of the three are unpaid - and providing a named credit is fair exchange for the many hours given for free to make content for the BBC. Otherwise it's the equivalent of working for free for the exposure - but without the exposure in terms of a name to enable people to find you!
  • the names might be said - but nobody spells them out. In the first week there are THREE artists where I had to keep replaying the segment to listen to the names again and again - and even then finally identified them using information from elsewhere in the programme (eg "Gallery Windermere paintings cattle" got one of them).
  • the BBC is hypocritical and ignores its own rules when it suits it - such as making sure it gets great guests on the Graham Norton show - because they are only there to promote their latest whatever - and always do!
So just as those in The Arts and Crafts House got named after I blogged about the disgusting lack of named credits (ditto Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year) - this time the artists in Series 2 of Home is where the Art is are also getting their proper name credits.

Which is how I know that the artists in the three episodes I've watched so far are as listed below. I found their websites - they're not listed on the BBC! That would be asking too much!

LINKS TO WEBSITES are embedded in their names

To be honest, the calibre of the artist's website says a lot about the calibre of the artist - which is as it should be. (With the notable exception of the artist for whom I'm guessing websites present a major challenge)  Those pondering on whether there might be a call for entries for a third series might want to have a think about that.

Episode 1 (Budget £350)


The artists are:


Episode 2 (Budget £750)


The artists are:

A post shared by Dawn Conn Sculpture (@dawnconnsculpture) on

Episode 3 (Budget £2,000)

The artists are:

More about the upcoming episodes in the series and its background below. I'll be watching with interest.

I do rather like the game of:
  • seeing whether I've read the client right - and which artists they will prefer
  • which artist will produce the winning piece

The Upcoming Episodes 


These are listed below.
  • Episodes are being broadcast on weekday afternoons on BBC1 at 3.45
  • They are are REPEATED the following day at 6.30pm on BBC2.

  1. Episode 4Series 2

    4/15 Today's artists create works to celebrate a rescue dog who had a tough start in life.

  2. Episode 5Series 2

    5/15 A buyer born during the moon landings marks her 50th with something out of this world.

  3. Episode 6Series 2

    6/15 Artists design a piece for buyers who want to commemorate the day they won the lottery.

  4. Episode 7Series 2

    7/15 Three artists design uplifting works for buyers recently diagnosed with cancer.

  5. Episode 8Series 2

    8/15 Three artists create works to celebrate a couple's 25th wedding anniversary.

  6. Episode 9Series 2

    9/15 Three artists design works to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a paraclimbing champion.

  7. Episode 10Series 2

    10/15 Artists create works to say thank you to a husband who does a lot of work for charity.

  8. Episode 12Series 2

    12/15 Three artists create works for a recently married couple's newly renovated home.

  9. Episode 13Series 2

    13/15 Three artists create works to memorialise two beloved fathers and a stepfather.

  10. Episode 14Series 2

    14/15 Three artists make something amazing for the 850th anniversary of a Scottish castle.

  11. Episode 15Series 2

    15/15 Three artists create works to mark a buyer's tenth year in an award-winning choir.

More posts about "Home Is Where The Art Is"


Some of you may recall my previous posts on the first series including
and
Posted by Making A Mark on Wednesday, July 08, 2020
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