Daniel Vollmond
In 2013, Daniel received his BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. He later completed his MFA with distinction at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2016, supported by 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 exhibited across Europe and internationally.
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Daniel is an artist who continuously learns and adapts to new tools and techniques. He works independently across media with a strong focus on technology, moving image, and interaction—both offline and in digital spaces. DIY, coding, and building things are at the heart of his practice.
His work is deeply informed by his upbringing near the Iron Curtain in rural Germany, close to Hof, a border town adjacent to the former GDR in the so-called 'Former West'. Even though the Iron Curtain collapsed in 1991, its cultural and geographic divisions remained visible for years. A general lack of perspective drove many young people to migrate to cities. At the age of nineteen, Daniel left too. Before moving to Berlin, Amsterdam and London, he spent a Voluntary Social Year in India, where he understood the geopolitical meaning of 'geography' for the first time - specifically what it meant to be born in a rich country: 'to be born privileged'.
These formative years continue to shape his artistic work, which explores social dynamics and everyday conditions, often in an attempt to 'hack' or subvert embedded structures and belief-systems. His practice interweaves personal experience with broader political and historical contexts. It operates somewhere between direct interaction with the viewer, autobiography, documentary and speculative fiction, often resulting in scenarios where the artwork appears to "make itself" through its engagement with the audience: 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 central to his practice. Daniel also holds lectures and workshops and regularly collaborates with others, including his partner, Lynne Kouassi. Since 2023, he has co-organised the ANTHROPOZÄNTA in Hof, Germany: an annual residency and exhibition project in collaboration with Sophie Innmann. He also is a founding member of term7, an anonymous collective that publishes tutorials on digital security, online privacy, and FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software), exploring the social dynamics of online communities and digital activism at the intersection of art and politics.
