April 29 to July 30, 2016
Potsdamer Str. 97, 10785 Berlin

Rirkrit Tiravanija is showing a large scale Mikado (pick a stick) game. Its aim is not points but fortunes and fluxus-performances which are hidden behind the Chinese numbers printed on the 24 sticks. After having drawn a stick, the player is entitled to disclose a specific fortune or performance-instruction by picking one of the 24 custom made stamps from a board and printing it on a sheet of paper. The artist invites the visitors to try their luck and offers a stage for individual interpretations of the different fluxus-performances. The edition, consisting of 24 wooden sticks, each 90 cm long, and a wooden board with 24 custom made stamps containing fortunes and fluxus instructions, is published in an Edition of 16.

Rirkrit Tiravanija
untitled 2016 (unfortunes fortunes)
A set of 24 coloured wooden sticks each 90 cm
25 stamps (each 8 x 10 x 7 cm) with fortunes or fluxus-performance-instructions
on a custom made shelf (57.5 x 86.5 x 12 cm)
Paper, ink
In custom made linen bags
2 wooden wall mounts each 19 x 9 x 10 cm
Certificate signed and numbered
Edition of 16

Additionally, the Gallery will show a selection of Multiples published with Rirkrit Tiravanija since 1993. „bicycle shower“ (2010) is also part of „The Land Project“, an agriculture and architecture project in Chiang Mai, initiated by Tiravanija with other artists.

Also on display will be a set of 2 traditional kites that are used for competitions in Thailand and all of Asia. An assemblage of small stones forming the words „the state of things“ (2013) is preventing the kites from taking off. Since the early 1990`s, Rirkrit Tiravanija uses exhibition spaces as a platform for social installations. He initiates cooking for the visitors or has his apartment recreated to scale.

Please contact Alfons Klosterfelde at 030 97005099 or office@helgamariaklosterfelde.de for further information.
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September 20 to November 23, 2013
Potsdamer Str. 97, 10785 Berlin

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Rirkrit Tiravanija stellt mit seinen künstlerischen Arbeiten, besonders seinen berühmten Kochaktionen, immer wieder soziale Situationen her, in denen er, wie er sagt, versucht „die im westlichen Denken vorhandene Kluft von Subjekt und Objekt abzubauen“. Er löst dabei in seinen Arbeiten nicht nur den Gegensatz von Produktion und Konsumtion tendenziell auf, immer wieder reflektiert er dabei spielerisch und analytisch zugleich auch die Geschichte und Funktionsweise von Kunst.

Untitled (HOW O COOK A WOLF), 2013

Das Kochbuch „How to Cook a Wolf“, 1942, der US-Amerikanerin MFK Fisher (1908 – 1991) ist der Ausgangspunkt für diese Edition. Dieses Kochbuch versammelt Rezepte für Gerichte, die einfach und preiswert zubereitet werden können, z. B. Kartoffelsuppe, Omelette oder Zwiebelsuppe. Fisher hatte dieses Kochbuch zu Zeiten des 2. Weltkrieges geschrieben, Tiravanija stellt jetzt, also während der anhaltenden Finanzkrisen, 20 Gerichte aus dem Buch vor, die heute von der Krise betroffene Haushalte wenig belasten. Jeweils ein Exemplar des immer noch im Handel erhältlichen Buches liegt auf einer sich spiegelnden Edelstahlschablone, auf der auffordernd geschrieben steht: „How to Cook a Wolf“. Zudem liegen dort Fotos, die zeigen wie der Künstler eigenhändig das jeweilige Gericht kocht. In dem Buch selbst sind oftmals durch das Kochen entstandene Gebrauchsspuren zu sehen. Diese Ensembles sind in 20 Schubladen untergebracht, die exakte Nachbauten der Schubladen aus der Gründerzeit-Schrankwand sind, die in der Galerie Helga Maria Klosterfelde Edition, einem ehemaligen Papierwarengeschäft, steht. Die Edition schlägt so auch in räumlicher Hinsicht einen Brückenschlag zwischen Gestern und Heute.

Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS), 2013 / Untitled (NO THING), 2013

Zwei traditionelle thailändische Drachen lehnen an der Wand, der größere stellt den „männlichen“, der kleinere den „weiblichen“ Drachen dar. Sie werden in Thailand in einem königlichen Wettkampf eingesetzt, wobei zwei Mannschaften versuchen, den Drachen der jeweils anderen Mannschaft zu Boden zu zwingen. Vor den beiden thailändischen Drachen liegt ein kleiner persischer Teppich, dessen Gewebe an Landschaft und Häuser denken lässt, und der damit andeutet was aus der „Drachenperspektive“ am Boden zu sehen ist. Auf dem Teppich steht aus Drachenschnur „the state of things“ geschrieben. Die Schrift verschwindet, sobald die Drachen abheben. Die Installation greift ein Motiv auf, das des Öfteren in Tiravanijas Werk zu finden ist, und zwar das von gemeinsamer Fortbewegung und Reise. So ist „Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS)“ mit seinem Dualismus von Abgehobenheit und Bodenhaftung, sowie der Gleichzeitigkeit unterschiedlicher Kulturen eine konkrete Metapher für unser postmodernes Leben, dessen Zustand, so Nikolas Bourriaud, geprägt ist durch die „Lebensumstände des zwischen den Kulturen Umherschweifenden“, der eben nicht mehr an einem Ort fest „verwurzelt“ sind.

Die Installation „Untitled (NO THING)“, 2013 ist eine Variation von „Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS), 2013, in der statt des Teppichs Steine vor den beiden Drachen liegen und die Worte NO THING darstellen. Sie weisen einerseits auf den Boden hin, auf dem die Drachen immer wieder landen werden, andererseits leugnen sie paradoxerweise durch die Semantik von „No Thing“ ihren eigenen Dingcharakter. Dieses Paradoxon ist typisch für ein fernöstliches Denken, das „sich nicht an der Substanz, sondern am Verhältnis“ (Byung-Chul Han) orientiert. Die Drachenschnur ist an einer Stelle mit den Steinen verbunden und verhindert so ein Abheben.

Untitled (Atlas), 2013

Die Edition „Untitled (ATLAS)“, 2013, zitiert Gerhard Richters Arbeit „Atlas“, seit 1962, ebenso wie Marcel Broodthaers’ gleichnamige Arbeit aus dem Jahre 1975. Sie setzt die sechsteilige Edition „Atlas“ fort, die Tiravanija selbst 1994 begonnen hat und immer noch fortsetzt. In den bisherigen sechs Faltkarten hat der Künstler Fotos und Dokumente gesammelt, die seine eigene Arbeit und sein Leben als Künstler kommentieren. Fotos, die ihn beim Kochen oder beim Reisen zu einer Ausstellung zeigen, sind da ebenso zu sehen, wie Photos, die künstlerische Vorbilder wie besagten Marcel Broodthaers vorstellen. Auch Texte und Interviews sind abgebildet. Diesen persönlichen Atlas seines Lebens hat Tiravanija jetzt einer Revision unterzogen und sechs für ihn besonders prägnante Motive als vergrößerte Siebdrucke neu in den Fokus gerückt. Das Photo aus einem auf dem Rollfeld stehenden Flugzeug korrespondiert dabei subtil mit seinen neuen Editionen „Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS)“, 2013, und „Untitled (NO THING)“, 2013.

Raimar Stange

Throughout his artistic work—especially in his famous cooking interventions—Rirkrit Tiravanija creates social situations that, in his words, attempt to “bridge the chasm between subject and object in Western thought.” He often uses his work to deconstruct the dichotomy between production and consumption, at once playful and analytical in his reflection on the history and purpose of art.

Untitled (HOW TO COOK A WOLF), 2013 The cookbook “How to Cook a Wolf” (1942) by American writer M. F. K. Fisher (1908–1991) is the basis of this edition. Fisher’s volume is a collection of recipes for simple and inexpensive meals, e.g., potato soup, omelette, or onion soup, published during the Second World War. Now, amid the ongoing financial crisis, Tiravanija presents twenty dishes from the cookbook that pose little burden for households affected by the crisis. For each recipe, a copy of Fisher’s book (still available in stores) lies on a reflective, stainless steel stencil spelling out the inviting words, “How to Cook a Wolf.” Also included are photographs of the artist cooking each dish. The books themselves often show signs of use, flecks and spatters left over from cooking. These ensembles lie in twenty drawers built to replicate the drawers of the 19th-century cabinet walls lining two sides of the Gallery Helga Maria Klosterfelde Edition, which was once a stationary shop. Thus, the edition also represents a spatial link between the past and the present.

Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS), 2013 / Untitled (NO THING), 2013 Two traditional Thai kites lean on the wall; the larger represents the “male,” the smaller the “female” kite. In Thailand, these kites are used in royal contests in which two opposing teams try to force each other’s kite to the ground. In front of the two Thai kites lies a Persian rug, its woven pattern suggesting a landscape and houses, evoking the “kite’s perspective” of the world below. On top of the carpet, the kite strings spell out “the state of things,” a phrase that disappears as soon as the kites ascend into the air. This installation touches on a recurring motif in Tiravanija’s work: namely, collective movement and travel. With its dualism of floating and groundedness, as well as the simultaneity of multiple cultures, “Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS)” is a concrete metaphor for our postmodern lives—a state of existence, according to Nikolas Bourriaud, embodied in the “wanderer among cultures,” who is no longer “rooted” in one particular place.

The installation “Untitled (NO THING),” 2013, is a variation on “Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS), 2013; in place of the rug, stones are set in front of the two kites and spell out the words “NO THING.” The stones make reference to the ground on which the kites will always land. At the same time, through the semantics of the phrase “No Thing,” they paradoxically deny their own being as things. This paradox is typical of East Asian thought, which tends to focus “not on substance but rather on relationships” (Byung-Chul Han). The string is attached to the stones in one place, preventing the kites from flying away.

Untitled (Atlas), 2013 The edition “Untitled (Atlas),” 2013, references Gerhard Richter’s “Atlas,” ongoing since 1962, as well as Marcel Broodthaers’s 1975 work of the same name. It is a continuation of Tiravanija’s own six-part “Atlas”, which the he began in 1994 and has been expanding ever since. In the original six folders, Tiravanija collected photos and documents of significance for his own work and his life as an artist. Photos of himself cooking or traveling to an exhibit appear as frequently as photos depicting artistic influences such as Broodthaers. Texts and interviews are included as well. In “Untitled (Atlas),” 2013, Tiravanija has combed this atlas of his life and selected six motifs of particular personal weight, which he presents here as enlarged silkscreen prints. The photo of an airplane standing on the runway subtly corresponds to the artist’s new editions, “Untitled (THE STATE OF THINGS),” 2013, and “Untitled (NO THING),” 2013.

Raimar Stange

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March 24th to September 1st, 2007
Linienstraße 160, Berlin
photos: Susanne Ullerich

Rirkrit Tiravanija (born 1961 in Buenos Aires, lives and works in Chiang Mai, New York and Berlin) has since the early 1990’s developed models of artistic procedure aiming at a dialogue with the spectator rather than a mere passive reception. He offers to utilize particulary developed situations for encounter and creative participiance. Rirkrit Tiravanija has installed temporary kitchens and bars with friends that invited visitors to socially interact; he has implemented theatre-projects with students and created a platform for other artists by architectually intervening into exhibition spaces. With his body of works compromising aspects of everyday life (like cooking, eating, sleeping) as well as utopic and potentially life-changing concepts, Rirkrit Tiravanija has advanced to be one of the internationally most important contemporary artists.

From 1993 on, Rirkrit Tiravanija has created a number of Multiples for Helga Maria Klosterfelde: Untitled (rucksack installation), 1993, Untitled (tent installation), 1995, as well as Atlas I-IV, 1995-97, a continuous body of works. All these Multiples deal with another subject of Tiravanija’s work: Travelling as a topos of continuous change and encounter.

The new Multiples exhibited emerged in relation to The Land, a project that has since 1998 taken an important part in Rirkrit Tiravanija’s opus: a former rice field in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand is, by Rirkrit and artist friends, gradually and in a variety of aspects, transformed into an experimental place of social, economic and ecologic engagement (www.thelandfoundation.org). Untitled (jacket turns to tent), 2007 incorporates the subject of travelling: The rain coat, manufactured in Thailand, can be transformed into a flexible shelter and the enclosed map leads the bearer from Chiang Mai Airport to The Land, the logo of which appears embroidered to the back of the coat. „Untitled (solar cooker), 2007 consists of a meticulously fabricated stainless steel solar mirror, in which the enclosed traditional buddhist beggar-monk’s pot can be heated to cook a bag of rice harvested at The Land. Atlas V and VI, 2007 continue the series of portable references and directions that comprise a kaleidoscope of biographical ubiquity.

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