It's been precisely 10 years since Big Brother and Survivor transformed voyeurism into a mass marketing concept.
These shows operated on the principle that there is nothing people won't do when presented with the chance to acquire cash prizes and fleeting celebrity.
Allied with this belief, meanwhile, was the presumption that other people would tune in to watch this stuff. Oh, how right those early pioneers turned out to be.
The past decade has seen reality game shows blossom into a multi-billion dollar industry, with the format being tortured into just about every imaginable permutation.
We've had seagull-voiced singers withering under salvos of calculatedly cruel criticism. We've had mothballed celebrities munching on the larvae of exotic insects.
We've had fashion designers, chefs, gardeners, dancers, financiers, gold diggers and geeks, all of them casting their dignity and moral codes aside for the benefit of the viewing public.
Taken together, these shows represent the most acute satire of 21st century life yet produced - even if this particular aspect wasn't necessarily intended.
Last year, the BBC added a new twist to this already mangled genre, bringing us School of Saatchi, in which the adman and art svengali Charles Saatchi conducted a nationwide search for the next Tracy Emin or Damien Hirst. Now comes Work of Art, which premiered on Bravo last week and which, if the first episode is anything to go by, has more in common with Fear Factor than Saatchi's well-meaning, BBC Two-tinged contribution to the reality genre.
The show, brought to us by Sarah Jessica Parker's production company Pretty Matches, invites 14 hopefuls to battle it out for the title of "Next Great Artist". Along with the eternal glory such a designation suggests, the winner also receives a $100,000 (Dh367,000) prize and a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
Presumably, the coming weeks will see contestants claiming that the show represents their one stab at success, the culmination of their lives' work, the chance to finally get grandma that iron lung she's been needing.
There's an understandable urge to want to grab these contestants by their shirt collars and tell them to quit their bellyaching and try doing something worthwhile. But then this sort of sofa-thumping indignation, of course, is a large part of these shows' appeal.
All reality game shows aim to inspire two fundamental emotional responses in their audiences: sympathy and antipathy.
We are sympathetic with contestants we admire, or to those who are so pitifully inadequate that they trigger the nurturing impulse, like baby birds that have fallen out of a tree.
The more enduring and engaging emotions, though - and what does this say about us as a species? - are anger, hatred, scorn. The history of reality game shows is littered with personalities who have excelled at eliciting the above-mentioned responses: Jade Goody, Carrie Underwood, Timmy Mallet.
In this respect, the producers of Work of Art clearly know their stuff. As the first episode made patently clear, the show will provide audiences with the villains and victims they demand.
Falling squarely into the pitiful category was Erik Johnson, who chose to enthrall the judges by painting - wait for it - a clown (described by one judge as being reminiscent of a John Wayne Gacy self-portrait).
In the villainous corner we had the backstabbing Nao Bustamante, an outré performance artist who heaped scorn on her fellow contestants the moment the cameras started rolling. Boo!
As for who might eventually fill the role of teary, Who-me? mouthing victor - well, that doesn't matter. Work of Art, as with every one of its predecessors, is a series of must-see moments that culminate in a single anti-climax.
We don't really care about who wins. What we want is people being voted off, preferably with a harrowing put-down from the judges, who are in turn derided by us for being stupid or biased. Because we, too, are here to judge, which is a human predisposition.
Herein lies the genius at the heart of these shows, and possibly this one in particular.
The very premise of Work of Art invites a woeful shake of the head, an uttered disbelief that culture should fall so low as to make a lurid spectacle of this sacred human pursuit.
The big, overarching question raised by the show, however, is this: When can we watch it here?
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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%3Cp%3EMahika%20Gaur%20is%20the%20latest%20Dubai-raised%20athlete%20to%20attain%20top%20honours%20with%20another%20country.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVelimir%20Stjepanovic%20(Serbia%2C%20swimming)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20raised%20in%20Dubai%2C%20he%20finished%20sixth%20in%20the%20final%20of%20the%202012%20Olympic%20Games%20in%20London%20in%20the%20200m%20butterfly%20final.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EJonny%20Macdonald%20(Scotland%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBrought%20up%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20represented%20the%20region%20in%20international%20rugby.%20When%20the%20Arabian%20Gulf%20team%20was%20broken%20up%20into%20its%20constituent%20nations%2C%20he%20opted%20to%20play%20for%20Scotland%20instead%2C%20and%20went%20to%20the%20Hong%20Kong%20Sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20daughter%20of%20an%20English%20mother%20and%20Emirati%20father%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20in%20Dubai%2C%20then%20after%20attending%20university%20in%20the%20UK%20played%20for%20England%20at%20sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS
England v New Zealand (Saturday, 12pm)
Wales v South Africa (Sunday, 1pm)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
The specs: 2018 Maserati Levante S
Price, base / as tested: Dh409,000 / Dh467,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 430hp @ 5,750rpm
Torque: 580Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.9L / 100km
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Friday's schedule in Madrid
Men's quarter-finals
Novak Djokivic (1) v Marin Cilic (9) from 2pm UAE time
Roger Federer (4) v Dominic Thiem (5) from 7pm
Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) v Alexander Zverev (3) from 9.30pm
Stan Wawrinka v Rafael Nadal (2) from 11.30pm
Women's semi-finals
Belinda Bencic v Simona Halep (3) from 4.30pm
Sloane Stephens (8) v Kiki Bertens (7) from 10pm
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
