The Secret Life of Things
2006 - Film & Video (Film & Video)
6 min
John Menick
The theme of the end of the world, of the last man on earth, recurs in our literary and cinematographic culture and in our imaginary: “we had this dream before, the dream that we’re alone.” In The Secret Life of Things , the narrator presents himself as an enthusiast and expert on films announcing the end of the world and those staging someone waking up to discover that they are the only survivor on earth. Like in some works by Mario Garcia Torres (like The Transparencies of the Non-Act , a slide projection about the artist Oscar Neuestern, Kadist Collection), the artist lends his discourse to a stranger. Mastering the montage, he intersperses a monologue and images. A suite of extracts that intersect with his discourse highlight the recurrence of the theme in cinema: from René Clair and “Paris qui dort” (1924), to “The Last Men on Earth” (1964) or “The Omega Man” (1971). These themes recur in European literary and cinematographic culture and in the imaginary: “we used to have this dream before, the dream that we were alone”. They were greatly developed in the 1960s and 1970s, allowing the expression of concerns of the time (the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Cold War threats) through fiction. From the beginning of the video, one has a glimpse of Paris, and then other cities, empty, with abandoned buildings, roads and monuments. More than a filmography of the end of the world, the narrator explains that this obsession is linked to things: “I watched these movies for their things, the massive accumulation of things”. What will become of these objects, cars, houses when they have lost their users? He continues to say that these objects have another use, another identity, ‘a secret life’. Finally he admits that “The story of the future is therefore in our present”. Above all, these announcing films are the witnesses of our history.
Rather like the narrator in the video belonging to the Kadist collection, The secret life of things, the artist John Menick is a ‘professional spectator’. He has written numerous texts on cinema and art which he publishes on his blog or in magazines. The artist, who has remained outside the art market, is recognized by numerous institutions and has exhibited at Maison Rouge (Paris), Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, PS1 (New York), Artists Space (New York), CCA Wattis Institute (San Francisco), Midway Contemporary Art (Minneapolis). John Menick was born in 1976 in White Plains, New York. He lives and works in New York.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Kristen Morgin
2008Donald of Doom Tank (2008) is a replica of a vintage metal toy with Donald Duck’s image one side and a soldier on the other...
© » KADIST
Karam Natour
2016Humor and Law, Kick of Duality, Point of View III, Selfie with Pan, and Thinking of You are part of an ongoing series of digital drawings Karam Natour has been creating since he was studying at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem...
© » DAZED DIGITAL
Hannah Diamond and Arvida Byström are girls online | Dazed â¬…ï¸ Left Arrow *ï¸âƒ£ Asterisk â Star Option Sliders âœ‰ï¸ Mail Exit Music PC Music Takeover As part of Dazed’s PC Music takeover, the pair discuss coming up in the Tumblr blogging era, the girl-coded internet, and how technology informs their work Text Kez Cochrane Illustration Walter Parenton Photography Hannah Diamond 12 December 2023 Welcome to Dazed’s PC Music takeover, a two-day guest edit celebrating 10 years of pop music’s most exhilarating label...
© » KADIST
Anju Dodiya
2022The Shedding by Anju Dodiya is part of a series of mattress paintings the artist creates using fabric stretched on padded and shaped boards...
© » THEARTNEWSPER
Cities are the heroes in an 'easy-going and unpreachy' publication that takes us on whirlwind tour of art history Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Books review Cities are the heroes in an 'easy-going and unpreachy' publication that takes us on whirlwind tour of art history Fifteen art capitals are captured at their brilliant apogee in Caroline Campbell's book Keith Miller 6 February 2024 Share Detail of Hungry Ghosts Scroll (late 12th century) by an unknown artist Kyoto National Museum The last book I reviewed with this title was by the historian Simon Schama...
© » KADIST
Karam Natour
2016Humor and Law, Kick of Duality, Point of View III, Selfie with Pan, and Thinking of You are part of an ongoing series of digital drawings Karam Natour has been creating since he was studying at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem...
© » ART & OBJECT
Louvre Museum to Hike Entrance Fee in 2024 | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Nghệ thuật Xin giấy phép Triển lãm ở Việt Nam | ArtsEquator Skip to content Tại một đất nước như Việt Nam, nơi có những yêu cầu không rõ ràng về việc trưng bày, Linh Lê nhấn mạnh rằng chỉ cần một thứ tưởng chừng đơn giản như xin giấy phép triển lãm có thể trở thành một cách kiểm duyệt biểu đạt nghệ thuật...