Being John Smith

John Smith’s films unfold at the intersection of conceptual art, structural film, and documentary, revolving around his own life and immediate surroundings. In the new film Being John Smith, which also gives the exhibition at the Secession its title, image, voice, and text are intertwined in an autobiographical meditation on nothing less than the meaning of art and existence itself. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring an essay by the film scholar and critic Erika Balsom and a conversation between John Smith and the curator Jeanette Pacher. Bookmarks made from cutups of an analogue film roll – a copy of The Black Tower – form the artistic intervention. [publishers' note]