Many authors have considered the pun to be among the vilest dregs of literary creation.
A play on words based on homonyms that have multiple meanings, the pun relies on the difference in meaning between words or groups of words that are pronounced in the same way. However, there have been ardent defenders of the pun, like Samuel Beckett, placing it at the origin of the humorous device: “In the beginning was the pun,” he wrote.[1] Man Ray Man Ray is a visual pun: Man Ray is the name of a dog, Wegman's dog / Man Ray is the name of one of the artists in the Surrealist movement, a seminal 20th century multi-disciplinary artist (1890–1976). Yes, but nonetheless, they are both pronounced in the same way, so if we mixed them up, what would the result be?
The video explores the duplicity between what is said and what is seen, offering an ironic parody of the biographical documentary. The voiceover of Russell Connor (artist, historian, and WGBH talk-show host who has also collaborated with Nam June Paik and Bill Viola [2]), delivering information in a uniform and monotonous way, full of anecdotes and losing himself in more or less historical comments, takes on an irresistible absurdity when combined with images of dogs... And along the way, cleverly attacking certain common elements of the American way of life. In truth it is a real tribute to Man Ray, who was also interested in cross-overs, in misleading and fertile combinations of fact and fiction, who had a real affinity with word play and the manipulation of images in movement. The comic value is even greater if we consider the fact that the video was made before Man Ray's death. And really, is that not the point of calling your dog Man Ray?

Manon Schwich
Translated by Jo Garden

[1] Samuel Beckett, Murphy, Routledge, 1938.
[2] http://russellconnor.com/about.html