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 National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina