DEAR Jasminda,

A FRIEND recently asked me to vote for her son’s artwork to help him win a competition.

When I looked at the entries, I actually thought another artwork was far superior, so I voted for it instead. Should I come clean?

Mandy B.

Dear Mandy,

A popular vote and a deserving candidate are often poles apart.

The artistic merit (or inferiority) of Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles, for example, created an uproar, exemplifying the idea that one person’s abstract impressionism is another person’s ‘bacchanalian rampage’ as it was described at the time.

Mandy, may I suggest that you look up the word bacchanalian.

It may come in handy.

Now, to your dilemma.

I can almost guarantee you weren’t the only person your friend contacted.

She probably hedged her bets on friends and family, hoping for safety in numbers.

It’s a solid ploy, unless they’ve all had the same artistic epiphany.

You could fess up and lose a friend.

Frankly, it’s not worth it.

Silently stand by your decision.

Maybe even go to the presentation.

And when the child with true artistic merit wins, as they should, refrain from looking smug and muttering, ‘I knew it.

Look at the textural intricacies, the considered balance of light and shade, the vibrant colours. It’s far superior to that other one. A bacchanalian rampage if ever I saw one.’

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.