Mannequin Death
Miller frequently uses mannequins in both sculptural installations and video art. For the artist, these human surrogates function as "empty subject positions" around which he can explore notions of subjectivity. Mannequin Death is a disturbing three-minute video made in collaboration with Austrian video artist Richard Hoeck. Set on an Alpine mountainside, mannequins clad in wigs and couture are pushed one after another off a cliff's edge and into a quarry by a mannequin hand that extends into the frame. Each meticulously styled figure comes apart as it bumps down the mountain crags, accompanied by violent thwacks and grunts appropriated from martial arts movies. At the conclusion, the camera peers down into the quarry and its pile of mangled mannequin parts--an ending that conjures images of mass violence in real life.
The viewer cannot help but feel the horror of each drop while simultaneously knowing the mannequins are not real. This vicarious experience of death from a distance is, of course, exactly the 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant's conception of the Sublime--except filtered through what 20th century philosopher described as "the sex appeal of the inorganic" that structures consumer desire in capitalist society. Weaving together high and low references from the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich to the MTV show "Jackass", Miller and Hoeck create black comedy from the repressed impulses that course through contemporary culture.
The viewer cannot help but feel the horror of each drop while simultaneously knowing the mannequins are not real. This vicarious experience of death from a distance is, of course, exactly the 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant's conception of the Sublime--except filtered through what 20th century philosopher described as "the sex appeal of the inorganic" that structures consumer desire in capitalist society. Weaving together high and low references from the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich to the MTV show "Jackass", Miller and Hoeck create black comedy from the repressed impulses that course through contemporary culture.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mannequin Death
- Artist: John Miller (American, born Cleveland, Ohio, 1954)
- Artist: Richard Hoeck (Austrian, born 1965)
- Date: 2016
- Medium: Single-channel digital video, color, sound, 3 min., 13 sec.
- Classification: Variable Media
- Credit Line: Purchase, Henry Nias Foundation Inc. Gift, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.386
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2016, Richard Hoeck and John Miller
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
John Miller
I. & J. Taylor
1787
Luis Urculo
2015
James Nares
2011
Jane and Louise Wilson
1997
Maria Marshall
1998
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.