章 40: Utterly Ugly

The competition was always shown live for the first round, to generate buzz, then the competition progressed with one day of work and one day of rest until it was the final day.

The instructors began by giving the guidelines. The first round brought an unexpected challenge. The organizers announced a collaborative project, pairing participants to work together on a piece of art. Matteo was paired with Joon-Ho, a talented but somewhat aloof painter. Joon-Ho's English was very basic, so the language barrier was the first of their numerous obstacles.

The word for the first round was "Spark."

Their initial conversation was tense. Joon-Ho had strong opinions and wasn't shy about expressing them, even with his broken English. Matteo found himself struggling to keep up, his ideas often overshadowed.