Canvas Calamity

**Canvas Calamity** is a challenge of visual intelligence on *Canada's Smartest Person*.

## Description

*Retrieved from CBC.ca*

Each competitor has their own workstation that features paints, brushes and a variety of mixed media. They are given a theme and have only 90 seconds to create a striking work of art interpreting that theme.

## Episode 205

Canvas Calamity was the sole challenge of visual intelligence and the second challenge overall. Jessi Cruickshank explained to the contestants that the contestant in 1st place would earn 5 overall points, the contestant in 2nd place would earn 3, the contestant in 3rd place would earn 2, and the contestant in last place would earn 1. She then explained to the viewers the instructions and how they could play along with the contestants on the Canada's Smartest Person app. Sean O'Neill served as the guest judge for this challenge.

The theme that contestants had to base their artwork upon was **magic**.

Jakob Sanderson was the first contestant to present his artwork and it consisted of two juxtaposing wing-like splashes that represented light magic and dark magic. Sean commented that Jakob managed to keep his artwork simple while making it understandable at the same time.

Barry Shulman was the second contestant to present his artwork and it consisted of a magician performing the 'sawing a woman in half' trick with the trick having gone awry. Sean commented that he might be a little disturbed, but that it is not necessarily a bad thing.

Jennifer Lam was the third contestant to present her artwork and it consisted of a magic cloud that was formed from mixing potions. Sean commented that the artwork had great use of colour and lovely texture.

Alex Manea was the last contestant to present his artwork and it consisted of a white wizard taking advantage of both light magic and dark magic in order to create the ultimate fireball of yin-yang. Sean commented that the artwork looks good in spite of him not understanding what Alex was talking about in reference to video games.

After Alex's turn, Jessi revealed that Sean would rank each of their artwork from weakest to strongest. Sean gave his final comments to the contestants and ranked Jennifer in 1st place, Jakob in 2nd place, Barry in 3rd place, and Alex in last place. Therefore, Jennifer was awarded 5 overall points for finishing in 1st place, Jakob was awarded 3 for finishing in 2nd place, Barry was awarded 2 for finishing in 3rd place, and Alex was awarded 1 for finishing in last place.

As for the public, the top performers, by percentage score, were Victoria Justason of Midland, Ontario, with 100%, Cam Deamel of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with 100%, Hillary Darline Clarke of Nepean, Ontario, with 100%, Dianne Lannon of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with 100%, Marcia DeJong of Chestermere, Alberta, with 100%, and Mike Stanley of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with 100%. However, the scores for the public are calculated differently than the scores for the contestants.

### Summary of Results

 **1st** | **Jennifer Lam** | 1st
 **2nd** | **Jakob Sanderson** | 2nd
 **3rd** | **Barry Shulman** | 3rd
 **4th** | **Alex Manea** | 4th
 Maximum Possible

## Episode 305

Canvas Calamity was the sole challenge of visual intelligence and the second challenge overall. Jessi Cruickshank explained to the contestants that the contestant in 1st place would earn 5 overall points, the contestant in 2nd place would earn 3, the contestant in 3rd place would earn 2, and the contestant in last place would earn 1. She then explained to the viewers the instructions and how they could play along with the contestants using CSP SmartPlay as found on the show's Facebook page. Sean O'Neill served as the guest judge for this challenge.

The theme that contestants had to base their artwork upon was **passion**.

Eric Yue was the first contestant to present his artwork and it consisted of a bird taking flight akin to a rocket being launched into space. Sean commented that he found the narrative interesting and that Eric brought a sense of movement to his artwork.

Melissa DeCiantis was the second contestant to present her artwork and it consisted of a set of structured black and grey cells surrounded by a yellow climbing rope. Sean commented that he appreciated that Melissa had splashed a blotch of green paint to her artwork, which adds an abstract tone to the structured style of the painting.

Dustin Herbison was the third contestant to present his artwork and it consisted of a sun emitting lightwaves with blue and red colours. Sean commented that Dustin's artwork had great use of colour and that these colours complimented his motif of friendliness well.

Michelle Salt was the last contestant to present her artwork and it consisted of a flatlined heart monitor reading transitioning into a spike in the reading over a background of darker colours transitioning into lighter colours. Sean commented that the darkness was real and that Michelle wasn't afraid to go there.

After Michelle's turn, Jessi revealed that Sean would rank each of their artwork from weakest to strongest. Sean gave his final comments to the contestants and ranked Michelle in 1st place, Melissa in 2nd place, Dustin in 3rd place, and Eric in last place. Therefore, Michelle was awarded 5 overall points for finishing in 1st place, Melissa was awarded 3 for finishing in 2nd place, Dustin was awarded 2 for finishing in 3rd place, and Eric was awarded 1 for finishing in last place.

### Summary of Results

 **1st** | **Michelle Salt** | 1st
 **2nd** | **Melissa DeCiantis** | 2nd
 **3rd** | **Dustin Herbison** | 3rd
 **4th** | **Eric Yue** | 4th
 Maximum Possible

## References

1. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/blog/testing-intelligences-season-2-episode-5