The Manual Focus show is a collection of very special cars, beautiful art, and a great community.
Created by the gentlemen over at Gruppe Chat, they simply label it a "car and art" show. However, those two words alone hardly scratch the surface. It's a smell, it's a taste, it's a feeling, and it's a familiar place in time. All sewn together, in a cohesive display, to create the perfect exhibition. Perfectly sprinkled throughout the dynamic Distribution Hall in downtown Austin, TX.
A pre-party was held the night before the main exhibition to kick off the weekend. A smaller and more intimate time with friends, food, and drinks as a DJ handled the sounds.
The next day, once you enter the gallery, you notice a beam of light moving from left to right. It slowly danced across the room, passing over three cars, mirroring the sun as it traveled across the sky. Allowing for a different experience of the room depending on what time of the day you arrived. With each car being briefly illuminated by the light, every person got to see it differently than the next. The cars, you might ask? One of the three winning Ford GT40 MKIIs from the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Group B homologated Ford RS200 Evo, and a one of thirty-one produced 911 Turbo Carrera RSR. Surrounding the cars, one wall held photographs and 3D anaglyphic pictures. The other, stained glass and painted body panels.
The next room opens up into a wide and energetic space with something exciting to look at in every direction. What I would consider the main room, houses two Lamborghini poster cars, a Lancia Stratos HF, a live painting demonstration, and a bunch of creative Porsche 911 sculptures being auctioned off for charity. As you walk around you can't help but be inspired.
Also in the main room, local artists line the walls. Two in particular are Shan Fannin and Karl Ruckgarber. Shan's attention to detail and precision make her paintings look so realistic, you'd mistake them for a photograph if you had simply walked by. In addition to Manual Focus, she also has work on the moon. Catty-corner to Shan's work hung Karl's monochromatic prints. His passion for motion bleeding through every photo. Often using manual focus lenses and never having saved a preset. Every edit is from scratch. Giving each photo a more personal touch.
As you walk around, you'll see many shapes and sizes when it comes to the cameras that the spectators are wielding. From small to large format, film to digital, and stills to video. All of which shouldn't come as a surprise since the show was born from the idea to give the local photographer a place to display their work.
Outside, on the opposite end of the building, were another eclectic group of cars. A nomad's Ferrari 308, 5 different Porsches all wearing the same rare shade of Moonstone, and a 944 Baja from hell.
As I sit on the grass outside, observing what is going on in the courtyard around me, I can't help but think that we're at a strange point in time. We're celebrating these machines more than we ever have yet they are still slowly being lost to time. For every new car on the road a new regulation comes between you and the pavement. But I'd like to think that this isn't the end. As I see parents and their kids celebrating these cars together. Showing them their favorite parts of each car and answering their curious child's questions, they are helping preserve a legacy. With the help of the community and events such as this, I personally see no end in sight.
To see the remnants of bugs, grime, and all that comes with a road trip on the front of a Countach or witnessing a $10 million historic Ford GT40 leave of its own free will and not on a trailer. This weekend was full of these kinds of moments, and it gives me hope that this won't be another tragedy lost to time. The love and passion that comes from the people involved in Manual Focus will continue to light the path forward for those to come. The flame is too bright not to.
Though the show is only in its second year, it's obvious that they're here to stay. The Manual Focus show is far from your average art show. Not only does the quality of what's on display set it apart from the rest, but the experience as a whole is unlike any other. Gruppe Chat was able to capture the essence of what made us fall in love with the automobile in the first place, why we want to continue capturing it, and reminds us of why it is important to keep our passions alive.
