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Rirkrit Tiravcmija
No Ghosts in the Walll12004
Rirkrit Tiravanija has been at the centre of debates about relational art. In the
following text, used as the script fo r an audioguide to accompany his retrospective
at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2004), Tiravanija presents a discussion of
his work in the third person. The narrative offers insights into his motivations for
working with 'lots of people', and represents an innovative solution to the problem
of presenting a retrospective of participatory art. The museum did not show any of
his past works, just empty spaces that related to the original venues.
[The Docent turns away from the window and leads the group into the partitioned
room to the left of the space ... it is the replicated approximation of a space which is
the project room of the Paula Allen gallery ... the Docent lines everyone up against
the wall as if there was an installation in the middle of the room and proceeds to
talk . .. J Docent: The relative success of pad thai from nineteen ninety and the
perplexed confusion following his first one man exhibition untitled blind, put
Tiravanija on the radar of the New York art world, where one exhibition can
make or break an artist overnight. We now move forward to the year nineteen
ninety two and Tiravanija's second solo exhibition in New York, with the work
untitled in parenthesis free. Once again the reintroduction of food as the key
element in the approach of the work is central. In tandem with this element
Tiravanija makes references to the core ideas of conceptual art that question the
idealism behind the relevance of authorship and authenticity. There are two
parts to the exhibition; we enter to find an exhibition space which is full to the
brim with an eclectic mix of objects. The overall view is that of the overpacked
storage space of a gallery. It is full of artworks in frames (many are photographs,
since the gallery, 303, concentrated very strongly on photography), some
paintings and parts and pieces of sculptures. When you enter from the elevator
you can see a painted blacl< cartwheel belonging to a Karen Kilimnik installation.
Behind this is a curiously tall wood chip crate standing upright forming a column
but not quite reaching the ceiling; there are drawers for drawings, cardboard
boxes full of unknown contents and some boxes with tennis shoes and a
toothbrush - all have been dragged out from all corners of the gallery and put
on display, as if to make an exhibition of the entire contents of the gallery.
There is an aisle running around and through the room and we can make our
way though the storage and behind the pile of art etc. Once we make our way to
the back of the gallery we are surprised to discover the desk of the gallery owner,
Tiravanija//No Ghosts in the Wall// 149