Walter Giers. Sparkling cube

Stroboscopic lights suddenly flash on the glass facade of the building, transforming it into a sparkling light sculpture visible from far way. This year, Walter Giers' artwork will once again make the ZKM cube shine. 

Walter Giers is one of the pioneers of media art from Baden-Württemberg. The artist, who died in Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2016, created complex light and sound art works using simple electronic components at the intersection of art, design, and technology. Through randomly controlled generators, his works appear as autonomous systems with an unpredictable life of their own. Since the 1970s, Giers worked on light installations for public spaces. He was not only interested in producing spectacular effects, but wanted to create pleasing atmospheres and impressions. The light installation at the ZKM Cube is a reconstruction of a work from the 1990s, which was presented on the tower of Stuttgart's central station.

In 2022/23, an extensive retrospective of the artist's work was held at the ZKM | Karlsruhe. Walter Giers' archive has been located at ZKM since 2021 and is gradually being catalogued and made accessible to the general public.