Rirkrit Tiravanija
Cook Book - Just Smile and Don't Talk

192 pages, 240 x 170 mm   
Hardcover drawn on covers
With 400 illustrations
ISBN 978 616 7339 06 1

Born in Buenos Aires in 1961, contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija resides in New York, Berlin and Chiang Mai, Thailand.  His installations often take the form of stages or rooms for sharing meals, cooking, reading or playing music; architecture or structures for living and socializing are a core element in his work.

Tiravanija's work has been presented widely at museums and galleries throughout the world, including solo exhibitions at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2005); Serpentine Gallery, London (2005); Secession, Vienna (2002); and The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1997), Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig (2003); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK (2003–04); and Gavin Brown's Enterprise (1999). He has participated in such notable group exhibitions as the Sharjah Biennial 8, United Arab Emirates (2007); 27th São Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2006); Whitney Biennial 2006: Day for Night, New York (2005), and was the co-curator with Hans Ulrich Obrist and Molly Nesbit of the Station Utopia Project at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003). Most recently he has exhibited at Tang Contemporary Beijing (2010) and Kunsthalle Bielefeld (2010). He is also a co-founder of The Land Foundation, a collaborative project in Chang Mai, which combines contemporary art interventions and traditional agricultural values.

In 2004 he was awarded the Hugo Boss Prize by the Guggenheim Museum, "in recognition of his profound contribution to contemporary art and is a Professor at the School of the Arts at Columbia University.
"It is not what you see that is important but what takes place between people."  (RT)The Cook Book contains  23 recipes, previously performed in museums and galleries throughout the world. All were cooked once more in his Chiang Mai kitchen and documented in the photographs by Antoinette Aurell.  In addition, an essay by Thomas Kellein of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and an extended interview between him  and the artist shed additional light on Rirkrit's work. Through this book the reader will understand more of what moves the artist as well as being able to cook such Thai staples from Pad Thai to Flaming Morning Glory, as well as new interpretations of Swedish, German and Spanish classics such as meatballs, Flädlesoup and Paella.
“Letting things burn and cook and boil, that's great”. (RT)