For decades, Michael Graf has been studying the rhythms and routines of image-making cultures. The ‘12°of Other’ share some of what he and his subjects have learned over those years. From the Vodoun practices of West African villages to the flourishes of Western identity to the hyper-demands of Attention Markets, Graf steers us along the borders of twelve unique human themes. As a whole, they reflect on notions of age, beauty, worth, erotism, duality, or worship that surface in our lives today.
Split across two mirrored Volumes, ‘Other’ highlights the dual ways we experience the world itself. Together, they offer a profound insight into what it means ‘to see’ through the eyes of another. The goal is to re-think the wants and values that shape the wholeness of who we are.
Part memoir, part social history, part travelogue, Graf argues that for us to thrive, we must be willing to see past the silos of an individual self. ‘Other’ reminds us that to truly ‘see’ is to experience the world via broader connections — to grapple with the same human experiences we all must endure. True intelligence is not just a willingness to explore these ideas further but a need to seek broader opportunities to do so. The ‘12°of Other’ are a call not just to explore how the mind operates but how it must see and re-see to truly flourish.
