Image from the series 'Space over Time' by Steffen Freiling - slit-scan-based photography that visually shifts space and time and challenges habitual perception.

Space over Time – Tracing Space and Time

This page leads to three curatorial sections within the Space over Time series. Each area highlights a distinct phase of artistic development – from early experiments to site-specific densification. The structure follows both a chronological and thematic progression: It began with technical experimentation – initial attempts with rotating objects during a winter holiday, later with custom-built turntables and adapted electronics. As understanding grew, more complex setups and custom software solutions were developed to manage the increasing data volumes of slit-scan photography. This section marks Phase I: Origins and Exploration – with series such as The Berliners, The Blues, and The Reds. The next phase, Phase II: Expansion and Transformation, represents a deliberate deepening of the method. New mechanical setups, mirror installations, and revised lighting techniques broadened the expressive potential. First exhibitions and sales provided new direction to the artistic work. This phase includes series such as The Move, The Wishful Thinking, and The Coral Gables. The third phase, Phase III: Site-Specific Intensification, brings the developed visual language into a dense, atmospheric engagement with specific locations. Miami Twice, The Way to Montauk, and The Garden reflect personal and professional milestones – including exhibitions in Miami, encounters and conversations with gallerists of all genders, and a retrospective look at artistic and personal development informed by slit-scan photography. What unites all works is the desire not to depict space and time, but to render them as fluid, visually perceptible transitions between structure, perception, and emotion.

I. Origins and Exploration

The beginnings of the Space over Time series were shaped by playful curiosity and technical inventiveness. First rotating objects, custom-built turntables, self-developed software to manage the data load – and the realization that slit-scan technology opens up entirely new visual spaces.

II. Expansion and Transformation

This phase expanded the spectrum: new technical setups, complex mirror installations, and the first large-format exhibitions. The works from this time reflect growing maturity – and a clear expansion toward greater artistic depth and expressive power.

III. Site-Specific Consolidation

The series gathered here connect personal experiences with specific places: travels, exhibitions, encounters. The pictures carry atmospheric traces and condense what has been achieved so far into an emotionally and formally dense expression of space and time.