Jörg Otto Gaier

"An important component of my artistic work is sculptural integral structures that can be moved and transformed. In the process, the material and power is captured, possibilities are conceived and your own body becomes a part of the unfolding event." - Jörg Otto Gaier

He describes his activities as follows: “The overall effect should always take precedent over the material and the form. In my playground designs, this relationship to the element of water, which by nature is the medium which can be most fully explored by the senses, led me to using water as the central design element. The strictly geometric objects are a direct contrast to this changeability and diversity of effect and thus contribute to the water design. When carrying out my work my intention is to always adhere to timeless design quality.”  

Jörg Otto Gaier spent his childhood and school years in Austria and Bavaria. He graduated from the Gewerbeschule für Kunsthandwerker (industrial school for artists) in Munich in 1963 as the winner of the Bundessieger für Holzbildhauerei (top national prize for wood sculpture) and then studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste (academy of fine arts) in Munich, first as a student of Professor Josef Henselmann (1964) and then as a master’s student of Professor Hans Ladner (1969). This was followed in 1970 by a diploma in free sculpture.

Gaier was a participant in the Biennale in Bordeaux 1971 and has been involved
in social and ecological initiative groups since the nineteen-seventies. From 1990 to 1996 he was a member of the district council for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (1990–1996). He has been working for Richter Spielgeräte GmbH since 1980. To this day, his work focuses on the design, composition and construction of play objects, particularly in the area of water play.