Dominik Wullimann: A Journey Through Space And Meaning

There are lots of different ways to look at Dominik Wullimann’s pieces. And there are as many ways to interpret them as there are viewers. Nothing new? Yes there is. Wullimann works with context and decontextualization. Images and pieces of art are taken, cut, altered and composed anew. Whether this takes place using a mobile phone camera and the editing tools provided there or with fotos from the daily press, there is always more to it than just recomposition.

Wullimann’s core discipline is the alteration of perspective. The material is recomposed in a way that the originals are barely recognizable. The geometry inherent in the originals is used to compose new overall perspectives. The result is a coherent new picture composed of titbits of original photos and images or of zoomed details. The fact that every constituent is taken from a larger content in its original context results in a peculiar collage of meaning, the interpretation of which Wullimann leaves up to the viewer.

„9. Oktober 2008, Centralbahnplatz“ is one of Wullimann’s most recent works. He takes a photo using the camera of his mobile phone (Sony Ericsson), zooms into it, again and again. Like in a journey through space, the colours and pixels reveal new structures when scaled. And there is no end: you can go on and on. And the deeper you go in, the bigger it gets, like a visualization of macro- vs. microcosmic structural imagery. The result is pictures which depict details of the original photo scaled by as much as 32 to the power of 12. And at this depth, a complete new set of colour structures appears. Each step which leads there, is a version of the original image and can function as a new starting point. Rather than a singular piece, there is a whole series, a tree of versions, a process rather than a stationary opus, a journey through the original.

„9. Oktober 2008, Centralbahnplatz“ invites to look at the world in detail as it shows what our perception of things is composed of if we look closely enough. Dominik Wullimann’s work can be seen at Kulturzentrum Kesselhaus on 5th June. Dominik Wullimann can be contacted via email.