2020

Armin Lorenz Gerold (*1981 Graz), is an artist and composer based in Berlin.

His work has been presented at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, at LambdaLambdaLambda, Prishtina; at fluent, Santander; mint, Stockholm; and the Gothenburg Biennial of Contemporary Art (in collaboration with Doireann O’ Malley). In 2021, Gerold premiered the new performative installation Verstärkung (Amplification) in the context of the performance series Give rise to at Halle für Kunst Steiermark.
Gerold releases pop music under the moniker wirefoxterrier, which is featured on the soundtrack of the LGBT teen drama SKAM Italia. The debut EP Radio Pristina was released in 2020.

As part of the Ruisdael stipend 2020, Gerold created a 112 pages artist book based on an installation that could not be realised due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The heart of the artist book is the story Manuel or A Hint of Evil, which is included in the book in text form. An audio play version will be available on this website shortly.

The book further contains texts by Alejandro Alonso Díaz and Anna Barfuss, an interview between Gerold and composer Lori. E. Allen, and a foreword by Shahin Zarinbal.

The book is available at Städtische Galerie Nordhorn or can be purchased via Mousse Publishing.

Armin Lorenz Gerold, Ruisdael Installation, 3D Rendering, 2021 (Rendering by Stefanie Schwarzwimmer)

Manuel or A Hint of Evil unfolds from the perspective of an unnamed observer whose thoughts coalesce into an inner monologue as he makes regular visits to the Olympic swimming pool in West Berlin, in the summer of 2020. At the pools, every now and then, he sees Manuel, a young man who, in the mind of the observer, becomes an animate object of an affectionate study of the possibility of encounter – and the abyss it presents.

Cover of Armin Lorenz Gerold, artist book, Mousse Publishing: Mailand, 2021 (Photo: Mousse)

Double page spread from Armin Lorenz Gerold, artist book, Mousse Publishing: Mailand, 2021 (Photo: Mousse)

Double page spread from Armin Lorenz Gerold, artist book, Mousse Publishing: Mailand, 2021 (Photo: Mousse)

In his experimental essay, Alejandro Alonso Díaz listens in on architectures of desire through allegories of norse mythology and examines the entanglements between sound, bodies and perception to note that “a sonic body precedes perception: the listening process is only an encounter.”

The essay Swim Sounds by Anna Barfuss opens an arc from the sounds and voices that, amplified by the echo of the swimming hall, refer to concrete bodies moving in lanes to cultural-historical reflections on artistic and poetic thinking that has emerged from a proximity to water.

In Closer to intuition Gerold and composer Lori E. Allen discuss in depth queer narratives in relation to sound, as “an accumulated series of fleeting moments,” speaking from both their personal, physical and emotional experiences.

The artist book is published on the occasion of the Ruisdael Stipend 2020. The Ruisdael Stipend was established in 2012 on the initiative of the artist Willem de Rooij within the framework of the international sculpture route kunstwegen.

Armin Lorenz Gerold, Ruisdael Installation, 3D Rendering, 2021 (Rendering by Stefanie Schwarzwimmer)

“So, understanding is that which happens silently, in the pauses between the words, in the breaths taken in between. Listening is a form of understanding, too. It is not passive perception; it is highly selective and arbitrary. When we listen, we pay attention; we dissect the words that we hear, their meanings, sensations, tone, ring and shape, internally, in our minds. We may notice the effect of specific sounds on our physical body. We may shiver, contract, wink or raise our brows. Listening connects to our rationality as much as it cultivates our emotional response to what or who we are listening to in a particular moment. It could be a person, it could be the city, it could be as plain as water.

Listening is a paradox, which requires distance as much as it requires the idea of closeness – perceptual proximity through fundamental remoteness. In Manuel, Armin Lorenz Gerold is interested in the potential this paradox can reveal: [1] to create a sensual space in which the unknown territory could suddenly, once again, become more interesting than a map of worn-out paths.” (Shahin Zarinbal)

Armin Lorenz Gerold, artist book, Mousse Publishing: Mailand, 2021 (Photo: Mousse)


112 pages, 65 images
190 x 240 mm, soft cover
English
Published and distributed 2021 by Mousse Publishing, Milan Edited by Armin Lorenz Gerold, edition kunstwegen / Städtische Galerie Nordhorn
ISBN 978−88−6749−476−7

Texts by Armin Lorenz Gerold, Lori. E. Allen, Anna Barfuss, Alejandro Alonso Díaz, Shahin Zarinbal. Illustrations by Armin Lorenz Gerold and Stefanie Schwarzwimmer