Sandro Ricaldone

WALTER GIERS
Electronic Art
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
October 15, 2022–April 16, 2023

Walter Giers was a pioneer of electronic art and one of the most important exponents of media art in Germany, who produced light and sound works in the tradition of kinetic art and Op Art from the late 1960s onwards. With an interest in tinkering with radios, he embarked on making nonfunctional objects out of electronic components in 1969, which he initially referred to as “Schalt-Elemente-Objekte” [switch element objects], “electronikals,” and “elektronische Spielobjekte” [electronic playthings]. From 1974, he used the term »electronic art« to describe his works.