Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
) is a Berlin-based writer,
curator
A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...
and filmmaker. His curatorial work deals with histories of
ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
and
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
and the ways these have influenced visual culture. Since October 2023, he has served as Co-Head of Program and curator at
C/O Berlin
C/O Berlin is a private exhibition space for photography and visual media in Berlin. It is located in Amerika Haus Berlin by Zoologischer Garten station, Charlottenburg, where it has more than 2,500 square metres of space. C/O Berlin presents wor ...
, where he co-curated exhibitions such as
Valie Export
Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer a ...
Retrospective, Studio Rex, the Jean-Marie Donat collection, and Träum Weiter – Berlin, the 90er. In 2022, Levin was co-curator of the 3rd Chennai Photo Biennale. In 2017, he was co-curator together with Florian Ebner, Kerstin Meinicke, Kathrin Schonegg, and Christin Müller of the 7th edition of the Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, which takes place in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
,
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. He is an editor of
Cabinet Magazine
''Cabinet Magazine'' is a quarterly, Brooklyn, New York–based, non-profit art and culture magazine established in 2000. ''Cabinet Magazine'' also operates an event and exhibition space in Brooklyn. In 2022, ''Cabinet'' transitioned its magazi ...
's Kiosk. His essay, "On Distance", was published by Atlas Projectos, Berlin (ed. Laura Preston), as part of the Next Spring series of occasional reviews. His writing has been published by magazines such as Camera Austria, Texte Zur Künst, and
Frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
ICOM ICOM may refer to:
* International Council of Museums
* Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, a medical school in the United States
* Icom Incorporated, radio equipment manufacturer
* Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM), a co-operative fe ...
member. Levin has curated exhibitions at the
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...
, Hamburg,
KunstHausWien
The KunstHausWien is a museum in Vienna, designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This museum in the Landstraße district houses the world's only permanent exhibition of Hundertwasser's works, and also hosts regular temporary exhibiti ...
, and
C/O Berlin
C/O Berlin is a private exhibition space for photography and visual media in Berlin. It is located in Amerika Haus Berlin by Zoologischer Garten station, Charlottenburg, where it has more than 2,500 square metres of space. C/O Berlin presents wor ...
, among other venues. Levin is the co-founder, together with Vera Tollmann and
Hito Steyerl
Hito Steyerl (born 1 January 1966) is a German filmmaker, moving image visual artist, artist, writer, and innovator of the essay documentary.Research Center for Proxy Politics.
Life and education
Levin is the son of poet and translator Gabriel Levin and Anat Flug-Levin, a psychoanalyst. He is the grandson of Dorota and
Noach Flug
Eliyahu Noach Flug (; 1 January 1925 – 11 August 2011) was an Israeli economist, diplomat and advocate for the rights of Holocaust survivors.
Biography
Flug was born in Łódź, Poland to Rywka (''née'' Gliksman) and Icek Flug. During the Sec ...
, and
Tereska Torrès
Tereska Torrès (born Tereska Szwarc; 3 September 192020 September 2012) was a French writer known for the 1950 book '' Women's Barracks'', the first "original paperback bestseller." In 2008 historians credited the republished book as the first p ...
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...
, and then at
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...
where he graduated as Meisterschüler from the class of
Hito Steyerl
Hito Steyerl (born 1 January 1966) is a German filmmaker, moving image visual artist, artist, writer, and innovator of the essay documentary.Leuphana University, Lüneburg.
Work
Levin's work deals with the relationship between politics, aesthetics, technology and ecology. His work has been exhibited at the CCA (Tel-Aviv), Former West, HKW (Berlin), Recontres Internationales (Paris, Berlin),
FIDMarseille
FIDMarseille (Festival international de cinéma de Marseille) is an international film festival held annually in Marseille, France.
History
The festival began in 1989 and was previously known as the Marseille Festival of Documentary Film.
Pro ...
(Marseille), European Media Arts Festival (Osnäbruck), Human Resources (Los Angeles) The School of Kyiv (Kyiv biennial),
La Gaîté Lyrique
La Gaîté Lyrique () is a digital arts and modern music centre opened by the City of Paris in December 2010, located at 3-5 rue Papin in the 3rd arrondissement.
(Paris),
Auto Italia South East
Auto Italia is an artist-run project and studio in Bethnal Green, London, England. It commissions and produces new artwork, collaborating directly with emerging artists. Throughout its history, Auto Italia’s work has taken many forms, ranging ...
(London), Years (Copenhagen) and Dinca Vision quest (Chicago).
''Regarding Spectatorship: revolt and the distant observer'', a curatorial research project co-curated together with Marianna Liosi, was shown at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien November 2015.
''All That Is Solid Melts Into Data'' (2015, 54 min), co-directed with Ryan S. Jeffery, premiered in FIDMarseille. All That is Solid Melts into Data "traces the architectural development of data centers, those curiously mammoth, often inaccessible glass-and-concrete “anti-monuments” that facilitate the ever-quickening communication we modern-day citizens take for granted. The film builds two simultaneous and equally compelling pictures of the USA — through its physical landscapes (frequently windowless, in-plain-sight complexes relocated to increasingly remote locales), and through the more troubling sociopolitical undercurrents that actively shape its digital economy". The film has been described as a "clinical dissection of the material effects of data (and by inference, the internet) on the future conditions of the city." The production of the film was supported by the Ostrovsky Family Fund.
Levin was the curator of "Say Shibboleth! On Visible and Invisible Borders", an exhibition by the Jewish Museums in Hohenems (Austria), and Munich (Germany).
Levin worked as a curatorial advisor and co-editor of the catalog and board-game for "Mine," an exhibition by
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
born, Berlin-based artist Simon Denny, which opened at MONA, Tasmania in 2019, and later traveled to
K21
The K21 is a South Korean infantry fighting vehicle. A replacement for the K200-series, it was formerly designated as K300 or XK21 KNIFV (Korea Next-generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle). The initial production began in 2009, with the Republic ...
, Düsseldorf.
In 2020, Levin was the curator of "BPA at Gropius Studios", a series of artist presentations in collaboration between the
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...
, and Berlin Program for Artists, which facilitates exchange between emerging and experienced Berlin-based artists, through coordinated studio visits and meetings. Levin has given workshops and seminars in numerous art-schools and universities, including Goldsmiths, University of London, HFBK, Hamburg, UDK, Berlin, and Shenkar College, Ramat Gan.
Research Center for Proxy Politics
Between September 2014 and August 2017, the Research Center for Proxy Politics (RCPP), hosted over twenty talks and workshops for students and the public on the evolving concept of “proxy politics". Founded by Vera Tollman, Hito Steyerl and Boaz Levin, RCPP "reflects upon the nature of medial networks and their actors, that is, machines and things as well as humans." According to RCPP, "proxies are now emblematic of a post-representational political age, one increasingly populated by bot militias, puppet states, ghostwriters, and communication relays". Levin and Tollmann have argued that "proxies are fundamentally ambivalent, and our current politics engages proxies at all levels".
Awards
''Last Person Shooter'' (2014), co-directed together with Adam Kaplan, was awarded the Ostrovsky Family Foundation Award for Experimental Cinema and Video Art in the 32nd Jerusalem Film Festival, 2015.
* https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Publications/Publications/380/Out-of-Body "The Body of the Web", Boaz Levin and Vera Tollmann (RCPP) for
Skulptur Projekte Münster
Skulptur Projekte Münster (Sculpture Projects Münster) is an exhibition of sculptures in public places in the city of Münster (Germany). Held every ten years since 1977, the exhibition shows works of invited international artists for free in d ...
Benjamin Bratton
Benjamin Bratton (born June 18, 1985) is a three-time fencing all-American and a former member of the United States fencing team. As a national team member, he competed in the 2006 World Fencing Championships in Turin, Italy; the 2009 World Fe ...