MANUEL GRAF
BUCHTIPP 2

KÖNIG BERLIN
15 JANUARY – 6 MARCH 2010

Johann König, Berlin presents BUCHTIPP 2 – the third solo exhibition of Manuel Graf. In the middle of the exhibition space are two sofas, as well as a coffee table arranged with a tea set. Before them lies a pair of high wedge-heel shoes with simply tied shoelaces, the owner of which can be seen in polaroid photographs during her stay at this place. Manuel Graf has produced all of these objects.

Manuel Graf, BUCHTIPP 2, 2010, two sofa, table, TV monitor, lamps, ceramic ( 10 parts ), five shoes, 20 polaroid, 14 min 15, unique © Image KÖNIG GALERIE

A television set is playing in the background. The screen displays couples speaking about Rudolf Steiner's book “Kernpunkte der sozialen Frage”, in which different theses about the relationship between man and work are discussed. An act carried out in the intimate atmosphere of collective reading and understanding, Manuel Graf invites the visitor to sit and watch the film. His work BUCHTIPP 2 is an encouragement towards further reading. The title of the exhibition should, as in his earlier work BUCHTIPP 2 (2009), be taken literally.

In his works, consisting mostly of video and precisely arranged objects, Manuel Graf deals with the development of those forms connected to the basic needs of man. Through the process of producing the objects himself, it can be appreciated how something new arises from a gradual forming and deforming. In this way, the simple connection between foot and sole by a shoelace is completed by a mix of traditional and modern references: Venetian stilt shoes and Ottoman boots meet Bernard Rudofsky's designs.