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With his new film installation Manifesto, Julian Rosefeldt has achieved something that overshadows his earlier work. For the leading role he was able to gain the Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who embodies different characters – from a primary school teacher to a stock broker to a homeless man – in twelve episodes. In cooperation with the Sammlung Goetz, the Museum Villa Stuck presents the monumental 13-channel film installation in an exhibition.
"Manifesto is a tribute to the beauty of artistic manifests," says Rosefeldt, "a manifesto of the manifestos." Rosefeldt came across the subject while working on his film Deep Gold, which he presented as part of the exhibition The Sting of the Scorpion in Museum Villa Stuck in 2014. The work was an examination of L'Âge d'Or – The Golden Age (1929/30), the scandalous Surrealistic film by Luis Buñuel. The Museum Villa Stuck now presents the monumental film installation Manifesto in the same rooms. The 13 large-format projections spread over the two floors and the gallery are optically and acoustically connected to one another via the glass spiral staircase.
The leading actress in all twelve chapters is the Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who once again proves her extraordinary versatility. The texts she speaks are quotes from art manifestos from the entire 20th century, including ones by Kazimir Malevich, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Sol LeWitt and Jim Jarmusch. Rosefeldt has arranged the quotations into a text collage and anchored them in the present to show that their passionate protests are still relevant today.
The Sammlung Goetz has supported Julian Rosefeldt's ambitious project since its early stages and therefore has the first edition of six identical copies. In addition to the 13-channel film installation, which has a running time of 130 minutes, the acquisition also includes a single-channel version of the work. With Manifesto (2014/15), the Sammlung Goetz has been able to add another key work to its portfolio of films and installations by Julian Rosefeldt.
Curated by Cornelia Gockel and Verena Hein
