Icarly was one of the biggest Nickelodeon sitcoms of the late 2000s and whether you loved it or hated it
You have to admit it was weird. Put your finger in his ear. Yes. Perfect. This is the Kayla nut
Named after princess Kayla Dupree who became famous for throwing nuts at poor people. No. No, I
Cannot even begin to explain how weird this show was and Spencer Shay was one of its weirdest characters in the show
Spencer's main character trait was his ability to sculpt paint draw and mold pretty much any
Material you could think of into some bizarre creation
This made him a valuable ally in the production of props for Carly's web show but in terms of his own artistic success
The show made him go through many ups and downs in this video
I'll be going through them and taking into account two other factors to determine the answer to this question was
Spencer really a good artist
You
Before we begin I just want to make a quick comment on the show itself
I hate to admit it but icarly was actually fairly accurate with how it presented Internet culture when I was a much younger lad
I thought that their web show seemed too loud and aimless to realistically be popular
but boy was I wrong now I can confidently say that their web show had ten times more substance and
entertainment value than the average Paul Brothers vlog
Sure, I'll remember the episode where they staged a fake boxing match just so they could increase each other's clout
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
Icarly was actually right on the money in a lot of places and that both
Disappoints and fascinates me now since I seriously doubt that Jerry Trainor had much to do with the production of these props
I think it would only be fair to at least mention some of the prop designers who did
now I searched as far as I could for information regarding this because I was genuinely curious and with the help of tumblr user a
perfect day for
Whatever that is. I was given a list of the two main prop designers listed on IMDB and the episodes they worked on
Unfortunately, most people in the art department had very short profiles and there wasn't much else to see besides their names
But here they are like in my Squidward video
I think it'd be a good idea to start off with technical ability
And I think it's safe to say that Spencer has plenty of skill in multiple materials
In the entirety of the show Spencer produced several dozen individual art projects all with a variety of materials
anything from plastic bottles to yo-yos to butter to pencils just
Pretty much anything and everything and they're usually structurally stable
Spencer experiences many ups and downs in his career throughout the series
It's safe to say that he's definitely not famous or as Sam puts it there's an art gallery downtown that wants to showcase
new works by great unknown artists awesome
You're great artist and you're definitely unknown but he peeks every now and then such as in the episode
I heart art in this episode Carly invites a more accomplished artist Harry Joyner who is noted as an
inspiration for Spence sir to review his sculptures
Initially he calls them amateur
Now I can see why he seems to think this at first the sculptures appear kind of gimmicky without much substance like yeah
It's a bunch of yo-yos cobbled together and an elephant head on a unicycle
It appears as though there isn't much subtle design that goes into them and more just flashy nonsense
But later Joyner says he said those things because he was jealous because they're better than anything. He's done in a long time
I think that's a curious set of words when Carly meets Joyner in the process of his newest art project
He's barking orders at people riding around lazily on a Segway and overall. He seems kind of bitter
I have a theory that Joyner saw a kind of youthful
Potential when he viewed the sculptures a drive and innocence that he had lost for a long time and that's why he felt jealous
I think the merit of Spencer's artwork comes from the colorful optimism and silliness of the sculptures
That is uncommon in an art world filled with people constantly trying to ascribe deeper meaning to their work
however
There were also instances of negative reviews like in the episode I enrage Gibby
Where an art critic gives a negative review of Spencer's work in a newspaper
Which prompts Spencer to retaliate in the weirdest way possible by gathering newspapers with that review and shredding them?
But once the newspaper accidentally publishes a false obituary for Spencer. He starts selling sculptures for a lot more money
So we know that at least in death Spencer could be more successful
however
It's worth noting that if he can make enough money to stay in a large apartment and provide for another family member
He's doing a lot better financially than most unknown artists. However, how much of this is being paid for by Carly's father
Who's on tour in a u.s
Submarine or other family members or possible ad revenue from Carly's web show is hard to say in a later episode
I hire an idiot Spencer takes his art to a museum in a section titled a traditional post modernist
Which seems like a bit of an oxymoron?
Going into what counts as postmodern
specifically would take way too long a chunk of this video to explain so I'll just say it's pretty much just
Weird art that tries it's absolutely best not to follow art norms. So I think Spencer sculptures would fit in this category
So he at least knows the appropriate place to take them and he seems to be known by the curator
But as the curator says to get a sculpture in here
you have to fill out an application have it examined and approved by the Board of curators get authorization from
Three maybe four months
Leave it here for a few days. I can't so it seems that Spencer is rejected not because of the quality of his work
But his unwillingness to go through all the paperwork and patience to get his sculptures in a place such as a museum one of Spencer's
Most famous gags is that he can catch nearly anything on fire so much so that the Seattle Fire Department is aware of him
very aware and an important thing to note as the
iCarly wiki tells us is that things he catches on fire are usually made up of
Materials that are non flammable at room temperature. So what does this tell us?
Well, it suggests that Spencer might have an untapped wealth of supernatural powers
But very little agency over those powers there is even more evidence of this as shown by his. Well, let's just say
unusual effects on women for example in the episode
I have a lovesick teacher where he charms Carly's teacher into dating and boy, does she like Spencer?
Even when Spencer doesn't like her back because of her downright psychopathic behavior
Love me or the episode I do
Where they go to a wedding and the bride falls in love with Spencer within like 10 minutes
Keep in mind on the very day. She's supposed to get married to someone else or back to the museum episode where this happens
I told you specifically that you weren't married wrong
Normally Spencer would be charged with sexual assault, but the
Opposite happens. I apologize. I had to do that just do it again. Yeah
Yes, it seems Spencer has an uncontrollable aura that gives access to many abilities some consider to be unnatural
But what does this tell us about his art?
Well Spencer's talents in multiple mediums his speed and his technological
Marvels might be because he's managed to channel a part of his powers into a talent that he does have agency over but in order
To counteract this the powers also destroy what has been made with them
His powers aid in his creations, but they also aid in their destruction and oh boy, do they destroy in fact?
Sometimes they aren't just treated like a silly gag in the beginning of the fourth season
He burns down Carly's room with a gummy bear lamp
Spencer sculptures are a perfect reflection of his wacky and energetic nature. There's nothing pretentious about them
They could have no meaning at all or they could have the most profound meaning of all time
Look you could stare at a Rothko and ponder about the relationship between colors and the majesty of the void for a few hours
But thinking deeply about mary sniff --mess is going to keep you up all night. His sculptures are so
Unapologetically silly that even in such a bizarre place as the art world. They would probably still be unique
So does this make him a good artist?
well
That kind of depends on what you consider a good artist to be whether it's the quality of their work
The amount of recognition for their work their financial success or something else
but what I will say is this
Spencer has the talent and the ideas to succeed but his unwillingness to go through the professional work
Required to advertise and promote his art is a shortcoming. He nearly loses custody over Carly because of his irresponsible behavior
And by that, I mean nearly impaling her head with a hammer Spencer is truly chaos incarnate
But he gets that custody returned when he demonstrates control and responsibility in other areas
perhaps his seemingly supernatural powers and
Astounding talent are a metaphor for the great potential he possesses but without proper control it all comes burning down