His grandmother played an important role in this life. She owned a big restaurant in Bangkok and Rirkrit grew up in her kitchen. She also taught cooking on Thai TV. Much of Rikrit's early work involved cooking in an art-related place like a museum or gallery. In his first piece in 1990, he served Pad Thai, a traditional Thai noodle dish, during the opening of his exhibit at the Paula Allen Gallery in New York. The visitors' participation in the live event was the art work, and after the visitors had gone, the remains of the meal stayed on view as evidence of the event. In 1994 he set up a water bar in the front window of an art gallery in New York, providing a place for people to gather, socialize and have a free drink. Although cooking and the smells associated with it are important parts of Rikrit's work, giving things away for free and encouraging social interactions between people are also very important.

"You have to think about how to undermine the situation before it undermines you."

Since Rikrit's work is neither painting nor sculpture, it is challenging to understand where his art fits in and what makes it art. One critic has labeled Rikrit a "Potlatch-Conceptualist." The word potlatch means "big feed," and in Native American tradition, a potlach was a banquet given by a member of the tribe for the rest of the group. In some Native-American languages "potlatch" also means "killing wealth," because to give something for free is to undermine wealth. One reason Rikrit cooks and gives the food away is to undermine the greed and possessiveness that are so typical of our times. He suggests that as wealth is accumulated, fewer and fewer people can enjoy it. In the art world in particular, people who have enough money collect art. Rikrit tries to undermine that notion of possession and accumulation.

Conceptualism is an art movement in which the idea is more important than the object. In the 1970s some artists were very critical of the way that the art world turned their art into commodities, valuable things to be bought and sold. These artists challenged the definition of art as a "collectible" by making art that was more about experience. Performance art, site-specific art, freeart are all art forms that have been explored by conceptualists in the past. Rikrit's projects come out of that tradition, but also give it a new dimension by encouraging informal interaction and by pointing out the differences between cultures.

"It is a very important part of my work to get driven around [in different places] and feel things out and listen to what people say. When they're driving they often tell you everything."

Travel, like cooking, is a process intrinsic to Rikrit's art making. In one piece, the artist outfitted a bicycle with a large oval folding table, two portable gas burners, pots, pans, plates, folding stools and a video camera. He rode the bike for five days cooking and camping along the way. Word of this adventure spread quickly and by the time Rikrit was a half-a day's ride from his final destination a huge group came out to greet him. Both travel and cooking are activities that encourage social interaction. One of the themes that Rikrit explores through these activities is how people of very different backgrounds and cultures see and understand each other when they meet.

"Being a Buddhist you just let go, you can see destruction in front of you and just accept it."

Rikrit's religion, Buddhism, informs his attitude to art: art is a process that makes interesting interactions happen. People complete the art by becoming involved in it. Whatever happens, happens. His work blurs the boundaries between art and familiar activities by encouraging people to question what is familiar and what is art. How are cooking and eating in a museum different from cooking and eating in a restaurant? How is talking to a Thai artist different from chatting with a friend? In raising the familiar to the level of art, Rikrit also refocuses a certain kind of spirituality back toward life in the Buddhist tradition of noticing and celebrating the present moment.

References

• G. Brown, "Rirkrit Tiravanija: Other things, Elsewhere'' in Flash Art, Summer 1994
• C. Lufry and L. Gumper, "A Lot to Digest," in ARTnews, May 1997.
• J. Saltz, "A Short History of Rikrit Tiravanija" in Art in America, February 1996.
• R. Steiner and R. Flood, "En Route," in Parkett, vol. 44, 1995.
• See also: Rirkrit Links on the Web