I thought you’d never ask

Tess Landells

6–23 Mar 2019

I am a fan–actors and celebrities are the object of my desire.

I thought you’d never ask surrenders to the realm of fandom, balancing an understanding of the fake within film while still wanting to be seduced by its promise time and time again. It questions and contemplates the various relationships we have with our idols–the desire to be them, to be with them, to be included in their world.

The celebrity’s presence is possessed, fragmented and mediated through the screen. Leonardo DiCaprio serves as the surrogate. Manipulating his words and image, desired narratives are actualised. A love affair between the behold and beholden. Their worlds collide and finally become one–a melancholic love story, but ultimately one of loneliness and loss.

Through an earnest embodiment of herself as ‘the fan’, Tess considers not only what it means to view another on the screen, but the broader effect of this gaze. The desire and obsession for idols enters a deeper discussion about the notions of possession and surrender.

Onsite, Exhibition

Overview

I thought you’d never ask surrenders to the realm of fandom, balancing an understanding of the fake within film while still wanting to be seduced by its promise time and time again.

Key Dates

Opening: 7 Mar 2019, 7am–9am

Acknowledgment

This program takes place on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded - this land is stolen land. We pay respects to Wurundjeri Elders, past, present and emerging, to the Elders from other communities and to any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders who might encounter or participate in the program.

Biographies

Tess Landells’ art practice uses video, text and performance to explore notions of desire and identity. Speaking as one viewer to another, she interrogates the way we actively/passively assimilate screen culture and the macro/micro effects of this visual consumption. Tess is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at the VCA.