STAR

2010, Single-channel video 5 Minutes, 59 Seconds

In Star, the artist unremittingly inhabits the condition of her own failure, her fallibility and frankness displacing grace and illusionism. 
Star is part of a suite of videos that examine the language of comedy as a potential agent in exploring contemporary views on feminism.  It draws on the physical nature of performance art seen in the second wave feminism movement of the 60’s and 70’s.

The humor in slapstick/physical comedy is derived from the comic’s insistence to maintain control, even after it has been abandoned by those around them. Typical slapstick characters reenact the condition of the modern citizen who, finds that in the eyes of the law nothing they do can ever satisfy, and they are incapable of doing anything right, no matter how hard they try.

A star is intangible, resplendent, magical, spiritual, famous. It is something that is literally impossible to become. In a bundle of taped together cardboard and glitter, these attempts to conform to social ritual are taken to an extreme, rendering it a ridiculous and pointless task.  In this, it reveals that there is no way to fulfill the norm, and consequently, works to absolve the artist and all participators in society from the unreasonable demand to meet the standards of social conventions.