Life of a Star @ Emilia Telese. 2005. Venise

- TELESE Emilia, Life of a Star, 2005, Venise.

Why are we obsessed with celebrities? What’s life like for someone who is continuously stalked, filmed, envied, spied upon, deprived of privacy? Are celebrities ultimately lonely in a sea of shallow obsession and flattery? Life of a Star is a study of celebrity and the effects of morbid attention from the public for the ‘famous for being famous.’ A movie star, incarnated by Emilia Telese, arrives at the Oscars’ night, surrounded by four bodyguards, protecting her, stifling her, shielding her, describing meticulously her every move, from the raising of an eyebrow to a detailed report of her smile, as a swarm of tabloid journalists are forever asking cheeky questions and launching in preposterous insinuations, and prying paparazzi flash their bulbs and call her name. The public is puzzled, the gossip flows, the limo stretches long. As she walks around in scarlet Alexander McQueen couture and matching satin heels, she is oblivious to the intrusions, her poised pout and fluttering eyelashes commanding an entourage of PA’s, agents, Italian hairdressers, bodyguards and fans with just one Valentino-shaded look. Life of a Star questions the validity of the star system and its preoccupation with status, fame and the superfluous.