b 1952 in Cologne (D); 1975–76 studied at the Californian Institute of the Arts, Valencia (USA), then studied Philosophy at the Universität Köln (Cologne University); since 1975, work with video, initally as video tape, but since the mid-1980s especially in installations; since 1992 various positions as Professor for Media Art, Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe and at present at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich; he lives and works in Cologne and Munich (D). vom Bruch belongs to a generation of artists who became known in the 1970s with their video works without exploring other artistic genres first. His close friendship with Ulrike Rosenbach and Marcel Odenbach helped to develop a «video scene,» in Cologne that was exemplary for Germany, documented in their ATV-Studio. His topics refer to the relationship with the post-war German society, with its past as well as present, by recycling «found footage» from the «televised archive.» Since 1985 he has mainly worked with video installations.