Rear window

Watch Wolfgang Tillmans’ film of a New York street in the mid-90s
Art | 30 March 2020
Text Finn Blythe

Above image: 14th Street film still, Wolfgang Tillmans

For a limited time, Belgian art institution Wiels is showing an online version of Wolfgang Tillmans’ 14th Street film, shot from the bedroom window of Tillman’s New York apartment on 14th Street between 1994/5.

 

With no context or narrative, the 28-minute film frames the everyday hum-drum of this major crosstown street in Manhattan, formerly the boundary between its Lower and Upper halves. Shot from above, we move from tourists in bright yellow rain ponchos to the homeless who are ignored, commuters scuttling down subways, card-trick players luring crowds and curb-side chatter. In one sense it is a social study in participant observation, and in another, the indiscriminate musings of a bored artist. Either way, it’s worth a watch.

Watch the full film on Vimeo here


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