Pia Treiber

A central focus of my work is the exploration of the fold, the relationship between material and value, the psychology of shiny objects, and the ‘agency’ of material worlds.

‘Material agency’ is based on the premise that not only human attributions, but also the qualities of things themselves can exert a form of influence.

Material objects do not ‘act’ from the outside, but through their own complexity, which is realised in encounters and interactions.

Many of my groups of works are linked by the dynamic concept of the fold. Here, I am interested in Gilles Deleuze’s view of the fold, who, in his engagement with Leibniz’s monadology, understands the fold as the smallest unit of the material world. The fold can thus be regarded as a dynamic space of possibility, in which all potentialities are already present, to be revealed, concealed or newly linked through various mechanisms.

The concept and quality of the fold can be applied to a wide variety of fields. Similarly, one can view the cultural and historical development of ideas as a drapery of folds, which each generation reshapes, highlighting different aspects, linking new ones and thereby updating them. This can give rise to new perspectives – though merely another possible version of reality – as it simultaneously encompasses an infinite number of other possibilities.

Exhibitions

28 February–26 April 2026 ‘Versprochen’, Backnang City Gallery

16–31 October 2024 Deep Dive, Contemporary Ceramics, Galerie Hbksaar, Saarbrücken

26–28 July 2024 Aplaus, Graduates’ Exhibition, Saarbrücken

20 July 2024 NOSW, Neurotitan, Berlin

26 June–31 August: TENdenzen, Galerie von Wegen, Hamburg

6 June–11 August 2024 ‘Transformations’, Pfalzgalerie Museum, Kaiserslautern (mpk)

7 May–22 June 2024 ‘Strangers Who Know Each Other Best’, Artists’ Gallery, Munich

2023 Passageways, Klaus Faber AG, Saarbrücken

2023 Hall 3, Zollamt Gallery, Offenbach am Main

2023 Practising, Peter and Luise Hager Prize, Galerie Hbksaar and Saarländische Galerie, Berlin

2021–2022 Future Lab II, Speculative Nomads, From Hut to Hut, Völklinger Hütte World Cultural Heritage Site