Secession Podcast is a new digital series created by the Secession. In conversations with artists, curators, and experts, the podcast series provides interesting insights into the twelve to fifteen exhibitions of contemporary art that take place at the Secession every year. The program also features discussions on current issues as well as experimental sound formats and dialogues with members of the Association of Visual Artists, who share their personal recollections and reflect on the 125-year history of this unique artist-run institution.
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Secession Podcast is a new digital series created by the Secession. In conversations with artists, curators, and experts, the podcast series provides interesting insights into the twelve to fifteen exhibitions of contemporary art that take place at the Secession every year. The program also features discussions on current issues as well as experimental sound formats and dialogues with members of the Association of Visual Artists, who share their personal recollections and reflect on the 125-year history of this unique artist-run institution.
Artists: John Smith in conversation with Jeanette Pacher
Secession Podcast
1 hour 1 minute
3 weeks ago
Artists: John Smith in conversation with Jeanette Pacher
Listen to John Smith talk about his most ordinary name and how that possibly has more impact on his work than you’d think; how this inspired him to make the (autofictional) film Being John Smith (2024), one of three films in his Secession show; about the power of language, used both as voice-over and caption, over imagery; and about bad puns.
This episode was recorded on 11 September 2025, shortly before the opening of John’s exhibition:
John SmithBeing John Smith12.9. – 16.11.2025
In the mid-1970s, John Smith shared the widespread interest in challenging the illusionism of mainstream cinema and subverting apparent divisions between abstraction and representation, between the personal and the political. He did so alongside colleagues from the Royal College of Art, where he trained, and members of the London Film-Makers’ Co-operative. From the beginning, he was also fascinated by the capacity of sound – especially of the spoken word – to shape perception or conjure images. Smith handles image, sound, and text flexibly: instead of synchronizing them, he works with interruptions and disruptions – and a lot of black screen in between. He explains: ‘I’m not afraid of having darkness in films because that’s where the imagination works. I really love sound and darkness.’ More
Since 1972, John Smith has made over sixty film, video and installation works that have been shown in museums, art galleries and independent cinemas around the world and awarded major prizes at many international film festivals. Retrospectives of his films have been presented at film festivals in sixteen countries. He received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists in 2011, and in 2013 he was the winner of the UK’s Jarman Award. www.johnsmithfilms.com
Jeanette Pacher is a curator at the Vienna Secession since 2007. She is a regular lecturer in the Department of Site-Specific Art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and since 2023, a jury member of KÖR – Art in Public Space Vienna.
Secession Podcast: Artists features artists exhibiting at the Secession.The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.Programmed by the board of the Secession.Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. EberhardAudio Editor: Paul MacheckExecutive Producer: Jeanette Pacher
Secession Podcast
Secession Podcast is a new digital series created by the Secession. In conversations with artists, curators, and experts, the podcast series provides interesting insights into the twelve to fifteen exhibitions of contemporary art that take place at the Secession every year. The program also features discussions on current issues as well as experimental sound formats and dialogues with members of the Association of Visual Artists, who share their personal recollections and reflect on the 125-year history of this unique artist-run institution.
