BEN WOOD

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BEN WOOD

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    • Home
    • News & Upcoming
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    • Biography
    • CV
    • Connect
  • Home
  • News & Upcoming
  • Projects
  • Proposals/Essays
  • Biography
  • CV
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Ben Wood is devoted to exploring site-based history, and telling history in public space through new media, video and projected art for the general public. He connects people with site and history through site-based projection art.

A Sacred Homage My Ancestors and a Gift of Repair

Visual artist Ben Wood will discuss his family’s Stolperstein journey, which took place in March 2024, during which they visited Berlin and nearby towns Seelow and Strausberg to lay Stolpersteine for his grandparents’ families who were victims of the Holocaust.  

ON VIEW

The Vanished Jewish Cemetery of Seelow

tIn collaboration with the University of Potsdam Brandenburg Jewish Cemetery Project and Dr. Anke Geißler-Grunberg,  I have recently published the first comprehensive history of the destroyed Jewish Cemetery of Seelow.  The cemetery is where my great grandfather and great great grandparents are buried. During World War II, it was desecrated and destroyed and later was turned into a car park, which it remained for 60+ years. Last year, upon my family visiting the town, the asphalt was removed and it is now overgrowing unused area.

My hope is that this article along with my visual proposals can serve as further evidence to support creating a place of remembrance for my ancestors who are buried there. The town is currently seeking funds to carry out the project and I am hoping this will be a catalyst for the long overdue restoration.


Article in English

A History of the Disappeared Jewish Cemetery and Community of Seelow

Article in German
Geschichte des Jüdischen Friedhofs in Seelow

Geschichte der Juden in Seelow

Release of Interrogative Design Book, MIT Press

I am delighted to be part of this book, Interrogative Design, by Ian Wojtowicz. The book is an in depth  compendium featuring the work of Krzysztof Wodiczko, his students and artistic colleagues.  With rich essays and project examples the book focuses on Wodiczko's, interrogative design approach which focuses on activating the public sphere and enriching public discourse through the production of questions. My contribution is an essay proposing to animate the and interrogate, the Life of Washington Murals in San Francisco. 

LEARN MORE

Proposed Jewish Cemetery Memorial, Seelow, Germany

My great-grandfather and great-great grandparents and other ancestors have been buried in a Jewish Cemetery in Germany since the 1800s. During the Nazi period the cemetery was desecrated and in World War Two it was destroyed and later paved over as a parking lot, which it has remained for over 60 years.  I am recovering the history of the cemetery and I am working on a proposal with the town to create a memorial and return the paved over cemetery as a memorial park. 

VIEW Proposal

Historischer Stadtrundgang - Nr.1, Strausberg, Germany

A short dreamlike tour, reimagines and visually explores 73 Gross Strasse, the former house of my Great-Great Grandparents, that was confiscated by the Gestapo in 1939, and demolished in 1940. During the past year I have been recovering this lost family story and have recreated their house and Textile Shop in Strausberg, Germany, as a 3D model and animation,  an artistic process of cultural recovery and repair. 

VIEW Video

Stolperstein for my great-grandfathers

Over the past year I have been engaged in the process of researching and applying for my great-grandfathers and other ancestors who were victims of the Holocaust. In March 2024, I will be visiting Berlin and suburbs Strausberg, and Seelow, the home towns of my grandparents to lay Stolperstein for my great-grandparents.  

Learn More

IN THE NEWS

Jewish News of Northern California, February 14, 2025

READ ARTICLE

IN THE NEWS

San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 2024

READ ARTICLE

IN THE NEWS

San Francisco Chronicle, January 14, 2025

READ ARTICLE

NBC Bay Area News: Artist brings new memories to Fort Point

Tucked beneath the Golden Gate Bridge is the slightly less famous musty brick fortress of Fort Point, an 1861 edifice built to guard the bustling gold region from foreign invaders and marauders. Visitors to the area mainly train their cameras on the bridge—and not the fort-turned-national Park. Joe Rosato Jr. reports how one man is trying to bring more attention to the fort's history.

NBC Bay Area News

IN THE NEWS

NBC Bay Area News, Joe Rosato Jr.

Artist brings new memories to San Francisco's Fort Point

Announcement of Fort Point Project in MIT, Art, Culture and Technology News

Ben Wood, A Bastion of Memory, Announcement

In memory of Max Philippsborn, a stumbling block in Seelow has been commemorated, ODERLAND−ECHO

Ben Wood, Max, a descendant of Max Philippsborn, hopes that the stolperstein will be reminder for present day Seelowers, for tolerance and humanity, towards their neighbors. (in German)

Strausberg, Germany remembers, Helene Levy, a victim of the National Socialism, MÄRKISCHES ECHO

Great-grandson, Ben Wood said, through the project his faith in humanity has been strengthened. It is an important reminder for tolerance towards Jews and can serve as a warning for present and future generations. (in German)

Art Activating Historic Places, Panel, April 20, California Preservation Conference

I was thrilled and honored to participate in a panel "Art Activating Historic Places",  with Cheryl Haines of the FOR-SITE Foundation and Frank Smigiel, Director of Arts and Programming at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. 

News Program about Bryan's historic ordination!

My identical brother Bryan, was ordained as a Rabbi in a historic ordination attended by the President of Germany

San Francisco History Association Presentation, Ben Wood: Projecting History in Public Space

View Presentation

California Live NBC, Cliff House Exhibit Showcases Long Gone Bay Area Landmarks

View California Live Segment

Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, Carl Nolte

"Here are the places in S.F. where all the hearts have been left"

NBC Bay Area News, Joe Rosato Jr.

Artist Projects Glimpses of Cliff House History From Iconic SF Cliff House

De Young Museum, Virtual Wednesdays Presentation

 "The Mission Dolores Mural: Bringing San Francisco's Oldest Mural to Light"

Monuments, Murals and Memorials Panel Discussion

Western Neighborhoods Project

LATEST NEWSLETTER

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