BODY COUNT by Philipp Henkel

BODY COUNT is a visceral and provocative exploration of the human form as both a site of trauma and resilience. Through a fusion of performance and mixed-media installation the piece interrogates the ways bodies are quantified, commodified, and politicized—whether in war, healthcare, or systemic violence.

Drawing from inspiration: forensic anthropology, memorial archives and personal narratives, the work distorts and reconstructs the body, challenging viewers to confront the tension between individual identity and statistical anonymity. Fragmented, multiplied, or erased, the forms question: When does a body become a number? Who gets counted, and who remains invisible?

With specific elements like repetitive silhouettes, raw data sonified and visualized, _Body Count_ oscillates between the intimate and the impersonal, urging a reckoning with the weight of collective loss and the fragility of corporeal existence.

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Philipp Henkel is a German composer, curator, and multimedia artist based in Hannover. In his music, gestural instability and extended expressionism transform the subjective listening experience. His compositions and multimedia works explore the implications of technology and societal failure(s) through a research-led approach. In 2018 Henkel founded neuMERZ an interdisciplinary studio for research led art projects and curation in which he remains the artistic lead.

Recent concerts and exhibitions of his work have taken place at GAIDA Festival in Lithuania, 21st Century Art Museum Kanazawa, Ryoguku Monten Hall Tokyo, Monopol Berlin, ZKM Karlsruhe.