Stunned Man, 2004

Trilogy of Failure (Part 2)
Stunned Man
2004
2-channel film installation
Colour, sound
Shot on Super-16mm
Converted to PAL SD and transferred onto DVD
Aspect ratio 16:9
Loop, 32 min 49 sec
Edition 6 + 2 ap


Stunned Man (2004) is the second part of Rosefeldt’s Trilogy of Failure (2004/2005) in which three different settings draw a picture of our vain entanglement with everyday rituals. In each case the protagonist is caught up in a microcosm that suggests mental and spatial claustrophobia. As a reaction to the hopeless situation, he plunges into permanent Sisyphean activity – going nowhere and producing nothing. The motifs of perpetual attempt and constant failure find their equivalent in the repetitive structure of the loop. The scenes are allegories of our frantic and ultimately futile attempts to escape the surrounding norms, constraints, structures and rituals by which we are determined.

Stunned Man (2004) shows a young man vandalising his apartment, which is then assiduously reassembled by his alter ego, only to be destroyed once again. As in the first part of the trilogy, the room is recognisable as a film set and neglects the cinematic effect of illusion. The wordplay of the title refers, like The Soundmaker (2004), to a film profession pursued more or less behind the scenes: the stuntman.

Summarised from Stefan Berg and Katerina Gregos, in: Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works (2008)


Exhibitions / Catalogues

– Double Act, MAC Belfast, Belfast, May–July 2016
– Broken. Slapstick, Comedy und schwarzer Humor. Sammlung Goetz im Haus der Haus der Kunst, Haus der Kunst, Munich,
   June 2014–May 2015 (curated by Cornelia Gockel, Ingvild Goetz)
– The Surface of the World: Architecture and the Moving Image, MCAD Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila,
   June–September 2014 (curated by Clare Carolin)
– Kino der Kunst. Julian Rosefeldt – Trilogy of Failure Part I & II, Maximiliansforum, Munich, April 2013 (curated by Heinz
   Peter Schwerfel; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt, Galerie West, Den Haag, July–August 2012
– Julian Rosefeldt – World-Making. Film and Photo Works 2001–2011, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, April–June 2012  
   (curated by Mei-ching Fang, Fang-wei Chang; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt – Making Of. Film Installations and Photo Works 2004–2010, DA2 – Domus Artium, Salamanca,
   October 2010–March 2011 (curated by Javier Panera)
– My Evil Twin, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, October 2009–January 2010 (curated by Timoth Long)
– Julian Rosefeldt. American Night, EX3 – Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Florence, October–December 2009
   (curated by Arabella Natalini & Lorenz Giusti; catalogue)
– Molten States: Olaf Nicolai, René Pollesch, Julian Rosefeldt, Catherine Sullivan, Royal Academy of Arts, London, October–
   December 2008 (curated by David Thorp)
– Cinema Sim – Narratives and Projections, Itaú Cultural São Paulo, September–December 2008 (curated by Roberto
   Moreira S. Cruz; catalogue)
– Through the Looking Glass, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, September–November 2008 (curated by Jeffrey Spalding)
– Made in Germany, Kunstverein Hannover, May–August 2008 (curated by Stephan Berg, Martin Engler; catalogue)
– Kino wie noch nie, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, May–July 2008 (curated by Antje Ehmann, Harun Farocki; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. The Ship of Fools, Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, January 2008
– The Hurricane Projects, The Moore Space, Miami, September–November 2007
– Julian Rosefeldt, Koraalberg, Antwerp, January–March 2007
– El equilibrio y sus derivados, Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola, Mexico City, August–October 2006
   (curated by Tatiana Cuevas)
– Global Players: Contemporary Japanese and German Artists, Bankart Yokohama and Tokyo Gallery, September–October
   2005; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, January–March 2006 (curated by Harald Kunde, Yuzo Ueda;
   catalogue)
– Comedy: The Funny Side of the Moving Image, Moscow Art Fair, House of Artists, Moscow, May 2005 (curated by
   Ekaterina Degot)
– El diablo no es tan feo como lo pintan: Selección de la 26. Bienal de São Paulo, MAC – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo,
   Santiago de Chile, March–May 2005; MNBA – Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, April–May 2005
   (curated by Alfons Hug)
– Julian Rosefeldt: Trilogie des Scheiterns, Part I+II, ZKMax, Munich, January–March 2005 (curated by Christian Gögger,
   Diana Ebster)
– 26. Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, September–December 2004 (curated by Alfons Hug; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt, MW projects, London, July–September 2004
– Julian Rosefeldt – Trilogy of Failure, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, July–August 2004
   (curated by Anselm Franke)

Literature

Berg, Stephan, et al., eds. Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works. Ostfildern, 2008.

Film Credits

Asuka Tovazzi (Stunned Man)

Production Designer: Leonie v. Arnim
Director of Photography: Christoph Krauss
Production Manager: Sandra Knape
Costume Designer: Beate Scheel
Make-up Artist: Sven-Eric Willems
1st Assistant Director: Matthias Junge
Gaffer: Martin König
Set Manager: Olaf Kenner
1st Assistant Production Designer: Christiane Rothe
Props / Set Dresser: Daniel Ben Sorge
On-Set Dresser: Sven Geßner
Set Dresser: Mareike Jetten
Driver Production Design: Jenny Werther
Set Construction: Blackbox
Script: Tina Tripp
1st Assistant DoP: Kerstin Kosinarova
Clapper-Loader: Jakob Ebert
Key Grip: Thomas Pieger, Robert Staffl
Best Boy: Sören Lang
Electricians: Alexander Klein, Urs Zimmermann
Assistants Production Manager: Ralph Appru, Julia Szemborski
Set Photographer: Barbara Schmidt
Driver: Ralph Appru
Catering: Markus Raska

Editor: Sergej Range
Postproduction: Pictorion das werk berlin GmbH
Project Manager das werk: Tom Michel
Colourist: Nadir Mansouri
Compositing: Christian Tröger, Philipp Fehling
Technical Support: Alex Falk
Postproduction Sound: Arri Film & TV GmbH
Foley Artist: Felix Kratzer
Sound Supervisor, Re-recording: Tschangis Chahrokh-Zadeh
Sound Editor: Berni Maurer

Camera, Light & Grip Supplier: Cinegate GmbH
Processing & Telecine: Schwarzfilm Postproduktion GmbH
Insurance: A. Huber & Co.
Transport: Medias Reiseservice GmbH
Film Stock: Fuji Kine Film Vetriebsges. mbH
Kodak GmbH

Supported by:
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Rumi Verjee

Shot in Berlin, 2004

Written, directed and produced by Julian Rosefeldt

All rights reserved © Julian Rosefeldt