Why I did a Reality TV show for my arts practice

The only Australian in the Netflix series Blown Away, we talk to Tegan Hamilton on the wins, and pains, of art-based reality TV.

Tegan Hamilton vacillated at first, and then said no to Netflix.

But the now Melbourne-based glass blower was able to quell her disappointment when she was offered a place on Series 2 of Blown Away, a reality TV show that puts creativity on the line, pitting glass blowers against each other.

‘I was working with Martin Blank in Seattle, and they asked him who might be good for the first season,’ Hamilton told ArtsHub. ‘He suggested me. But I was a bit cautious. The Reality TV genre can ruin your whole life, so I declined, and then it turned out to be incredibly successful.’

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's Senior Contributor, after 12 years in the role as National Visual Arts Editor. She has worked for extended periods in America and Southeast Asia, as gallerist, arts administrator and regional contributing editor for a number of magazines, including Hong Kong based Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. She is an Art Tour leader for the AGNSW Members, and lectures regularly on the state of the arts. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Instagram: fairleygina