Wolfgang Tillmans / Hans Ulrich Obrist

by Wolfgang Tillmans (Photographer), Rem Koolhaas

Over the course of two very personal conversations, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Wolfgang Tillmans discuss the photographer's work, his changing artistic vision and various thematic pursuits since the 1980s. Tillmans' recent book Manual is discussed in detail, as are cultural and social topics like AIDS.

Genres: Art

Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Wolfgang Tillmans is an influential contemporary German photographer whose work is in dialogue with artists such as Andreas Gursky and Gerhard Richter. Emerging in the 1990s with his snapshots of teenagers, clubs, and LGBTQ culture, Tillman’s practice has expanded to include diaristic photography, large-scale abstraction, and commissioned magazine work. “I want the pictures to be working in both directions,” the artist has said. “I accept that they speak about me, and yet at the same time, I want and expect them to function in terms of the viewer and their experience.” Capturing landscapes from an airplane window, still lifes of crustaceans, or straightforward portraits, his work conveys the profundity of an encyclopedic archive. Tillmans’ attention to even the most incidental moments can be seen in his Concorde Grid (1997), a group of 56 color photos depicting the airplane taking off along with the surrounding scenes captured during the moments in between.

Born on August 16, 1968 in Remscheid, West Germany, Tillmans spent the early part of his career in London after graduating from the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. In 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize, marking the first time the prize had been awarded to a photographer or non-British artist. In 2006, Tillmans established Between Bridges, a non-profit exhibition space located in Berlin. His survey show “Wolfgang Tillmans: 2017” opened at the Tate Modern in London to critical acclaim, cementing his stature in the contemporary art world. The artist currently lives and works between Berlin, Germany and London, United Kingdom. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, among others.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the Biennale again, Tillmans being a photographer I'd heard of but not really explored. Really feel connected to him, perhaps because he's a European in London and hence experienced the same cultural shift as me. His internal dialogue is fascinating and his work is equally thought provoking. I love the fluidity in his work and his principle that the representational and the abstract have things in common, and in fact it's only our linguistic constraints that force us to make a distinction between them. My two favourite quotes: Obrist 'would it be correct to say that Truth Study Centre is involved in researching limits?' Tillmans 'yes, the area where things get uncomfortable. The border between facts and absolute truths. [...] this indecisiveness, this dilemma, is part of the equation. The potential pitfall - the inability to eat your cake and have it too - is part of this project. At the end of the day, I'm just as entangled in these problems, in this messiness, as anyone else. The word entanglement describes best what living in our times feels like.' 'Of course I do catch myself hoping that the next shot will be the one, but controlling that impulse is part of my job. It's only when I free myself of my intentions that I become aware. It's like you can't just will meditation'. I also commend his work on HIV 'why we must provide HIV treatment information'.