CV / ABOUT
[ Daniel Vollmond ]
* 1985 | Würzburg, Germany
SHORT BIO - DANIEL VOLLMOND
* 1985 in Würzburg (DE) | grew up in Hof/Saale (DE) -> right next to the Iron Curtain, former GDR and the Czech border
Daniel is an artist, who continuously learns how to use new tools and techniques. He works independently across media with a strong focus on technology, the moving image and interaction - both offline and in digital spaces. DIY, coding and building things is at the heart of his practice.
His work is informed by his upbringing close to the Iron Curtain on the German countryside next to Hof, a border town near the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the so-called 'Former West'. Even though the Iron Curtain collapsed in 1991, the deep cultural and geographic divide could still be felt for years. A general lack of perspective meant that young people were leaving the countryside to move to the cities. At the age of nineteen, Daniel felt compelled to leave too. Before moving to Berlin, Amsterdam and London, he went to India for a Voluntary Social Year, where he understood 'geography' for the first time - specifically what it meant to be born in a rich country: 'to be born privileged'.
These formative years have shaped his artistic practise. His work explores social relations and everyday situations, in an attempt to 'hack' and to debunk underlying rules and belief-systems. His practice responds to everyday situations in private and in public spaces, intertwining personal experience with history, politics and contemporary society. It operates somewhere between direct interaction with the viewer, auto-biography, documentary and speculative fiction, which often results in scenarios in which the work appears in the process of 'making itself' through its interaction with the viewer: a negotiation that interferes with the structure of the world, and that in turn allows others to interact with its complexities and its contradictions.
Social networks and building a sense of togetherness are important, which is why Daniel also works in collaborative projects and on workshops. Since 2023, together with Sophie Innmann, he organises the ANTHROPOZÄNTA in Hof, Germany - an annual residency and exhibition project. Notable individual collaborations have included work with Alicja Rogalska in London (SPECTRE, 2017) and several long term projects with his partner, Lynne Kouassi (i.e. HABITAT, 2019 and AQUARIUM, 2024).
In 2013 Daniel received his BFA (Bachelor in Fine Art) at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Subsequently, he completed his MFA (Master of Fine Art) with distinction at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2016. For this, he received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Daniel Vollmond currently lives and works in Basel, Switzerland and in Germany. His work has been shown across Europe and abroad.
https://lynnekouassi.com
https://anthropozaenta.org
IDENTITY SPLIT
"In 2016 my name was for the first time mentioned on e-flux. I was one of the participating artists at 'Alternativa 2016', curated by Anna Nawrot, Lívia Páldi and Aneta Szyłak. In 2022 my name was mentioned again on e-flux, this time not as a participating artist, but as a technical project coordinator for ‘Eartbound - In Dialogue with Nature’.
It is true for most artists that they cannot pay their rent, buy food and the material for their work only with the income they generate through their practice: It is a constant struggle to find the right balance between life as an artist and the necessity to earn money. This is why those of us who don't earn enough money as artists and who did not inherit a fortune from their families often have to work in other jobs as well - for example on construction sites, as care workers, in the service industry, as teachers, etc.
Also I cannot afford to work as a full-time artist - even though I would like to. I need a part-time job to pay my bills. Nevertheless I am in a quite fortunate position: because I am self-employed I can choose to work the necessary minimum in order to maximise the time I have as an artist. However, this 'work identity' easily gets blurred and confused with my 'artist identity', because both 'identities' are rooted in the field of art and culture.
This is the reason why I chose to split them up. From now on I use my mother's maiden name for my artist identity: Daniel Vollmond, formerly known as Daniel Dressel."
Daniel Vollmond
Basel, 01.01.2023
EDUCATION
2014 – 2016
Goldsmiths - University of London, MFA Fine Art || with distinction (London, UK)
2009 – 2013
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, BA Fine Art (Amsterdam, NL)
PUBLIC APPEARANCES
2024
Anthropozänta 2024 || artistic direction / residency (Hof, DE)
Mischabbruch, KASKO || exhibition (Basel, CH)
Digial Air, IOGENALITY || online ehibition
2023
Anthropozänta 2023 || artistic direction / residency (Hof, DE)
Identity \ Labour, Salon Mondial || exhibition (Basel, CH)
Prototype Politics, Padelhalle || exhibiton / event (Basel, CH)
2022
Co-Create: Digital Self-Defense Today, Web3 & The Metaverse, FHNW/HGK || workshop (Basel, CH)
Stiftung Kunstfonds, Neustart Kultur || award
Spoiler Zone, IL CIRCOLO DEL FRATTEMPO || exhibition (Berlin, DE)
Atelier Mondial, 6 months in Berlin || artist residency (Berlin, DE)
2021
E.KA.TE, Polyphonize || research residency (Limassol, CY)
South Kiosk, South Kiosk Summer Screen || exhibition (London, GB)
E-Werk Freiburg, KA BUFF ! || artist residency (Freiburg, DE)
FORMER Project Space, Ohmmmmmm || exhibition (Brussels, BE)
2020
E-Werk Freiburg, Songs from the End of the World || exhibition (Freiburg, DE)
2019
Dover Arts Development, JETWASH - 5min - 360° || solo exhibition (Dover, GB)
National Gallery Skopje, 20 years Art Colony Galichnik || exhibition (Skopje, MK)
Art Colony Galičnik, Art Colony Galičnik || micro residency (Galičnik, MK)
Kunsthaus Langenthal, Unbehaust || exhibition (Langenthal, CH)
2018
Museum Romeinse Katakomben, Secret Gardens || exhibition (Valkenburg, NL)
Imago Mundi, Join The Dots / Unire le distanze || exhibition / catalogue (Trieste, IT)
Repeater Books, Regeneration Songs: Sounds Of Investment And Loss From East London -> Music for Masterplanning || exhibition / publication (London, GB)
Stiftung Brasilea, Habitare || exhibition (Basel, CH)
WAL-NUT, WAL-NUT / ISSU 1 + ISSU 2 || publication (London, UK)
2017
Peer Sessions: ASC Gallery, Future Refrains || exhibition (London, GB)
Peer Sessions: ASC Gallery, Collaboration in Question || event (London, GB)
Cody Dock, POLYGON || solo exhibition (London, GB)
Peer Sessions: Deptford X, Peer Session #76 || event (London, GB)
2016
Alternativa 2016, Damage & Loss || exhibition / catalogue (Gdansk, PL)
Goldsmits - University of London, MFA Degree Show || exhibition (London, GB)
No.w.here, Die Yuppie Hipster Artist Scum || event / lecture performance (London, GB)
GRAD, Between the Lines || exhibition (London, GB)
2015
Moscow Biennale Foundation, Exchange || artist residency (Vishniy Volochek, RU)
Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Collaborate! || exhibition (Wrexham, GB)
Joya: AiR, Joya: AiR || artist residency (Cortijada Los Gázquez, ES)
2014
DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service || award
2013
Anthropozänta || exhibition (Helmbrechts, DE)
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, GRA Graduation Show || exhibition (Amsterdam, NL)
2012
Upominki, Ultimate Harmony || exhibition (Rotterdam, NL)
Žinkovy Arts Festival, Žinkovy Arts Festival || exhibition (Žinkovy, CZ)
Holland Festival: Frascati Theatre, Unfamiliar Parcours || event (Amsterdam, NL)
Amstel 41, Hardcore / Ding-mon-seek || exhibition (Amsterdam, NL)
Nosadella.Due, Creating a Context || artist residency / exhibition (Bologna, IT)
Swedish Connection || artist residency (Aspnäs, Härnösand, SE)
2011
Retort Art Space, Learning to Sea || exhibition (Amsterdam, NL)
About the Relationship between Chaos and Silence || residency (Kolkata, IN)
slowLab, SlowLloyd: About Blank Spaces || exhibition (Amsterdam, NL)