Boaz Levin
Boaz M. Levin (born 1989, Jerusalem) is a Berlin-based artist, writer, and curator. Levin is the co-founder, together with Vera Tollmann and Hito Steyerl, of the Research Center for Proxy Politics, and the co-curator of the 3rd Chennai Photo Biennale. He was co-curator together with , Kerstin Meinicke, Kathrin Schonegg and Christin Müller of the 7th edition of the Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, which takes place in Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg and opened September 2017. Levin is the editor of Cabinet Magazine'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 Kunst, and Frieze. Levin has curated exhibitions at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, , The Jewish Museum Munich, and , among other venues. Life and Education. Levin is the son of poet and translator Gabriel Levin and Anat Flug-Levin, a psychoanalyst. He is the grandson of Noach Flug. He studied in at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and then at Berlin University of the Arts where he graduated as Meisterschüler from the class of Hito Steyerl  in 2014. Since October 2016, Levin is a PhD candidate and member of the "Cultures of Critique" research training group at the Leuphana University, Lüneburg. Work. Levin's work deals with the relationship between politics, aesthetics and technology. His work has been exhibited at the CCA (Tel-Aviv), Former West, HKW (Berlin), Recontres Internationales (Paris, Berlin), FIDMarseille (Marseille), European Media Arts Festival (Osnäbruck), Human Resources (Los Angeles) The School of Kyiv (Kyiv biennial), La Gaîté Lyrique (Paris), Auto Italia South East (London), Years (Copenhagen) and Dinca Vision quest (Chicago). "Regarding Spectatorship: revolt and the distant observer", an ongoing 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). In 2020, Levin was the curator of "BPA at Gropius Studios", a series of artist presentations in collaboration between the Martin-Gropius-Bau, 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.