Andreas Gursky (b. 1955, Germany)
Rhein II, 1999

Of course I needed to to include “the most expensive piece of photo art ever sold” (well, things have changed since 2011) – as it is relevant to my overarching strive to become filthy rich making incomprehensible art.

Other than that it relates to some of my sound and photographic works where I am tweaking the space or time they occupy. Stretching something clearly distorts the “truthful representation” but makes visible or audible or thinkable something else – like my 25 m long photograph of the street that has no name yet and only exists in digital space. Gursky’s minimalist photographic rendition of the river – most certainly removing some of the actual detail, but by that emphasising its length, its quiet yet powerful presence – was a clear source of inspiration how photography can be used in unconventional ways.