Manuel Graf: Parallelstrasse

Manuel Graf (b. Bruhl, 1978; lives and works in Dusseldorf) primarily works on film projects he presents in installations and environments that also involve the fields of architecture, music, and art history. His setups often resemble animated still lifes; they are usually devoid of people and nonetheless address central issues of humanity. On the level of content, Graf is interested in the evolution of human existence, as well as the origins of art or craftsmanship. In parallel with his mediabased works, he manufactures ceramics, encouraged by Richard Sennett’s book The Craftsman; Sennett believes that the term designates not so much a technical practice as rather a certain mental attitude, and that the actions of the hands inform the work of the mind. Graf often integrates his handmodeled clay objects, which would seem to be utterly at odds with his technologically complex animations, in his installations, which surround them as a visual or musical frames. With photographs, writings, and interviews by Georg Elben, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Annette Hans, Victor Hugo, Mme Dogdo, Sabine Schaschl, Sven Seibel, Rudolf Steiner, Oliver Tepel, Robert Venturi, and others.