Inkjet print
101.57 inches by 181.89 inches
Wolfgang Tillmans makes his Freischwimmer (Free Swimmer) pictures without a camera, drawing with light sources on light-sensitive paper. The process, which he invented in 2000, evokes a liquid, unfixed state. Each work is a unique image which traces the artist’s actions. Tillmans chose the title because it suggests freedom and movement. It is also the name of the certificate German teenagers receive for proficiency in swimming. The photographs’ monumental scale underscores what the artist has called their “metaphysical authority.” This ongoing body of work has been shown in many different venues, from the Berlin nightclub Berghain to museums around the world, and it has yielded a rich range of studies in modulated color. Measuring more than 8-by-15 feet, his beautifully composed print is an immersive environment that is easy to get lost in.