Sendeschluss/End of Broadcast I, which is part of a series, may initially appear abstract or generic, yet it is actually the enlarged pixel pattern of television static, or snow, which can occur when there is no transmission signal or because of censorship or other, more forceful restrictions.
Tillmans captured this image in 2014 from a hotel television in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he was participating in Manifesta 10, an international exhibition of contemporary art. At the time, the Russian government was carrying out military interventions in eastern Ukraine, annexing Crimea, enacting anti-gay legislation, and restricting the dissemination of images of protests against the state. Given this context, Sendeschluss/End of Broadcast I can be seen as a picture of protest, and the artist has said that the works in this series "are a quite clear critique of the state, but don’t have political meanings spelt out all over them."
Unfinished Conversations, March 19-July 30, 2017.
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Wolfgang Tillmans
German, born 1968 48 works onlineImagine a group of photographs arranged with the deceivingly casual precision and emotional impact of a perfect pop song. That’s a decent approximation of what it feels like to take in a wall of photographs composed by Wolfgang Tillmans.
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