The Berlin artist York der Knšfel filmed 300 people for 150 hours in New York City. He let them talk and captured their stories, both the exciting and the mundane. Each of these people appears in front of the camera as an individual with a personal history.


York der Knšfel Thoughts 1996, video installations; 300 interviews, 48 monitors with recorders Berlin, York der Knšfel, courtesy of Galerie Wohnmaschine
How we interact with other people depends on ourselves. Some people only glance at others and walk by, as is often the case in a big city. Perhaps, however, you want to stop a while and listen to a story because you like or even dislike the storyteller's face, or because the mood of the other person is similar to your own. A gesture or a pause in the storytelling can seem intimate; what is being told reminds you of your own experiences. You recognize familiar things in the stranger. Although there is common ground, the other person remains foreign, but different from what you had assumed. The person is still foreign, but is perceived as an individual who has escaped our prefabricated clichŽs.