Kate Gilmore, Star Bright, Star Might, 2007
Kate Gilmore
Star Bright, Star Might

The performance videos by the New York-based artist Kate Gilmore (*1975, USA) are scenes of a perpetual fight between the artist and the problems and absurd difficulties she creates for herself. The static camera is reminiscent of early slapstick movies. In putting herself in extreme physical situations, she evokes the performance art of Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci and others, to which she adds the element of an absurd and dark sense of humour. While funny, the obsessive endeavours of the protagonist, who is usually dressed in clichéd feminine outfits, also make us squirm because they are turned into painful and grotesque symbols of the tiresome feats of everyday life in a world that is hungry for success and recognition.

artist's website: www.kategilmore.com

In Star Bright, Star Might, a woman forces her made-up face through a star-shaped hole in a wood panel. The points break as her forehead pushes through, her face becoming a rosette framed by the red-painted wood.

Courtesy Kate Gilmore
Document media
Video, colour, sound, 5:29 min

Issue date
2007

Tags
desire, exhaustion, laughter/humorous, pain