BS DC Import ID
node:36585
BS DC Import Time

Das Haus

1990
© Walter Giers ; photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, photo: Franz Wamhof
Artist/s
Walter Giers
Title
Das Haus
Year
1990
Category
Sculpture
Audio
Format
Wall Piece
Material / Technique
black and white photography, acrylic glass, pressboard, electronic controls, light-emitting diodes, loudspeakers, 3 audio tracks
Dimensions / Duration
120 x 75 x 6 cm
Collection
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Description
"Seeing objects as independent entities and not as instruments fascinates me. I develop systems that use random generators to vary unpredictable sequences of light, color, and sound. Tactile communication with the recipient is not planned anymore." (Walter Giers, 1997) [1]
A black-and-white apartment block with uniform rows of windows. What is hidden behind the drawn curtains of the building can only be guessed at. But Walter Giers’ works are rarely about exclusively visual insights. In his work »Das Haus« [The House], slender circuits, diodes, and loudspeakers embellish the sound object of the media artist. Depending on the lighting situation, a random generator produces seemingly random sounds. Flashing lights and three alternating sound tracks thus convey the impression that the object has an unpredictable life of its own, with which the work – as a quasi-autonomous object – casts a spell over its viewers. One of the most important pioneers of electronic art, Walter Giers works on the borderline between music, visual art, and technology by transforming photography, sculpture, and electronic elements into light and sound artworks.

[1] Walter Giers, in »Electronic Art«, exh.cat. (Stuttgart: Galerie Edith Wahlandt, 1997), p. 9.

Author

Julia
Ihls

Footer

ZKM | Center for Art and Media

Lorenzstraße 19
76135 Karlsruhe

+49 (0) 721 - 8100 - 1200
info@zkm.de

Organization

Dialog