Film UbuWebRosemary Trockel (b. 1952)
Manu's Spleen (I-V) (2000-2002)
Manu's Spleen I
Manu's Spleen II
Manu's Spleen III
Manu's Spleen IV
Manu's Spleen V
Manu’s Spleen (I-V) is a series of five films made by German artist Rosemarie Trockel between 2000 and 2002.
By creating unfamiliar characters with uncertain intentions, Trockel draws on a constellation of emotions to provoke, sometimes humorously, unsettling questions about generally held notions of identity.
By creating unfamiliar characters with uncertain intentions, Trockel draws on a constellation of emotions to provoke, sometimes humorously, unsettling questions about generally held notions of identity.
Manus Spleen is a serie of five films produced between 2000 and 2002 and first shown in the Dia Art Center, New York. They are no less enigmatic than Trockel’s earlier artwork. Stories remain unfinished, and questions remained unanswered. These videos center on Trockel’s understanding of the spleen as the originator of human emotions and passions. While Baudelaire, to whose gloomy poem "Spleen" Trockel’s title most likely refers, saw the spleen as the source of despair, depression, and disgust with life, Trockel interprets it as the source of all emotions: sorrow, anger, joy, mirth, and curiosity. By filming a young woman named Manu in various situations, Trockel explores a range of human emotions under different circumstances.