A Movie Star Needs A Movie
Written and choreographed by Jack Ferver
Performed by Jack Ferver and Liz Santoro
Film and photography by Jason Akira Somma
Costumes by Reid Bartelme
Music by Sebastian Tellier and Chris Lancaster
Premiered October 2009 at The New Museum
A Movie Star Needs A Movie is a darkly satirical new work by Jack Ferver about the relationship between shallow ambition and fame. As Ferver and performer Liz Santoro explore themes of self exploitation and cavort for attention, spectators enable the spectacle and, through their attendance, validate the thesis. This work critically engages the tricky issue of culpability in a viewer’s gaze and the inescapable self mythologies that emerge when calling oneself an artist (i.e., the performance of identity). With every emotional nuance enlarged to grotesque proportions and projected onto a wall via live-feed, Ferver approaches these concerns head-on and without shame, challenging you to watch and daring you to look away.
Watch ‘A Movie Star Needs A Movie’ ->
“With his mad blue Bette Davis eyes and penchant for public suffering, he is good at making a spectacle of himself, and- more to the point- he excels at making his audiences deeply uncomfortable. While he constructs and subverts identity, presenting and manipulating images of sexuality, abuse, and self love, those of us watching are implicated in his physically raw, violent works. We can’t look away, and naturally, we don’t want to.”
- The New York Times
“Although Ferver is rubbed with a patina that has one shuffling through references (from Jack Smith to John Kelly, Bette Davis to Bette Midler), he nonetheless occupies his current situation, even if he always simultaneously renders it productively shaky.”
- Artforum
A Movie Star Needs A Movie was originally developed with a commission from The New Museum as part of the RE:NEW RE:PLAY residency series, curated by Travis Chamberlain.
