In the Galicia region of Spain lies a stretch of Atlantic coast known as the Coast of Death. This remote and unforgiving coastline is scattered with small fishing villages including Camelle, former home of Manfred Gnadinger. On 28th December 2002 he was found dead in his self built home on the edge of the ocean. Its said that he died of melancholy and sadness.
What remains is a fading glimpse of Manfred's existence and remnants of his world. His home and garden stand dormant, weathered by their close proximity to the sea. His sculptures have collapsed or fallen, others have been vandalised. His organic garden is empty and unrecognisable with rocks scattered here and there, and the tides still ebb and flow around his home depositing objects from the sea.
In 1962 for unknown reasons, Manfred arrived in Camelle from south Germany and began settling into the small community. He soon abandoned his rented house and built a small concrete hut on the edge of the ocean where he surrounded himself by the sea and nature.
Manfred became sensitised to ecological issues and began constructing a small world around him entirely connected to his physical environment. He ate only what he could grow in his small organic garden, swam in the ocean everyday, and created sculptures and artwork using wave smoothed stones, driftwood, animal remains and anything else washed up by the sea.
Over time his only item of clothing was a loin cloth. He became a curiosity to the villagers and passing people who knew him as ‘O’Aleman’, ‘the german’, and later, simply, 'Man'.
On 17th November 2002, the oil tanker Prestige split in half and sank in the Atlantic Ocean polluting the sea with 20million gallons of oil. A few days passed and the oil reached land. Huge areas of the european coastline where affected, with the region of Galicia and Manfred's home amongst the worst. The marine ecosystem was devastated, thousands of birds died and natural habitats were destroyed. Man was the only human life lost. He saw the death of the natural environment and the beauty of his world, an avoidable disaster, which led him to die of sadness and melancholy.
