Manuel Boden works across a wide range of media, not only in his artistic production but also in the ways he gathers source material. Collecting is a central motif in his practice, which spans video, photography, publications, installation, and performance.
At the core of his work lies an inquiry into the act of seeing and the circulation of images. He investigates the act of seeing itself and how images relate to each other and to their viewers.
Whether extensively researched and meticulously sorted found imagery, or physical objects and chance discoveries removed from their original contexts of use, everyday life, and privacy, these elements are recontextualized through combination, subtle modification, and shifts in focus. Underlying this process is a persistent search for traces—one that continues to haunt the final form of his work.
This diversity is balanced by recurring reflections on appropriation, multimedia practices, archival preservation, and transience, sharpening attention toward what is often overlooked and toward fractures within the seemingly familiar.
He graduated with honours from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, where he studied under Prof. Matthias Müller, Prof. Johannes Wohnseifer, and Prof. Lilian Haberer. His works have been shown in galleries, exhibition spaces, festivals, and conventions including West, The Hague; Ludwig Forum Aachen; mumok Library Vienna; Stuttgarter Filmwinter; European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; and Arter, Istanbul.