The Importance of Rirkrit Tiravanija to Asian Contemporary Art

Rirkrit Tiravanija is one of the most important artists in the Asian contemporary art world. His art questions conventional ideas of art and makes the audience question what art is and who is the artist. Tiravanija’s work has extended the definition of art to include life and community art through the creation of social situations rather than objects. Because of this he ranks among the most important figures of Asian contemporary art, both for the innovations that he has brought to the practice and for the manner in which his work comments on the conditions of postcolonial, globalization-era Asia. 

Tiravanija's childhood was in multiple countries and he was accustomed to moving around a lot due to his parents'jobs. This directly correlates to the fact that he makes art pertaining to a focus on issues to do with culture, displacement, and identity. In today’s world where different cultures are interacting more and more, Tiravanija discusses the  issues of otherness and the necessity of the contact between various cultures. Being an artist who works at the interface of Asian, Western, and world art, his practice gives a specific insight  into the discourse of contemporary Asian art’s responses to globalization and intercultural exchanges. 

One of the key elements of Tiravanija’s influence is conceptual art, specifically relational aesthetics which is a term given by Nicolas Bourriaud in the 1990s that describes the idea of art being a way to encourage dialogue and interaction and not just for visual aesthetics alone. While the conventional types of arts are oriented towards things, Tiravanija’s works follow relational aesthetics which are based on experiences and relations. For example, his well-known work Untitled 1992 (Free), was a piece where he provided a kitchen in the gallery  and provided food to the visitors for free. The piece turns the gallery around its primary function of a space for viewing art into a space for the production of the social. This approach is very important in Asian contemporary art because the collective idea of many cultures is different from the individualism of Western modernism. The works of Tiravanija implies that the art world has the potential of bringing people together which helps in breaking down the barriers between different cultures while creating experiences. 

Tiravanija’s work does not only reflect on the concerns of post-colonial societies, but does so especially for post-colonial societies in Asia. It shows in pieces like “The Arrival 1990”. When he is asked about the slogans that were chosen for this art piece he says “‘The cat licking a bowl of milk’ was the best quote. It was a message used during the Vietnam War and by Indigenous people in the mountains, so, in a way, it’s all postcolonial marker”. He provides a critique of the effects of globalization on local cultures through the performance which is based on the multi-ethnic experience. His perspective of utopia is where people accept others as they are and not try to change them and it challenges the blending effect of globalization, which has been very evident in Asia because of the history and developmental processes of the region. Tiravanija remarked on the matter saying, “globalization is a concept that is used by Western people to erase differences.” His works promote engagement with differences and discuss them which provides them a space to be discussed rather than creating an idea and displaying it. 

Because of this,  it is possible to state that Tiravanija’s work is a reaction to the rivalry between the classical and the modern that is so big in today’s Asian societies. Many Asian countries have experienced economic development, urbanization, and Westernization, leading to tension between tradition and modernization. Tiravanija's art addresses these contradictions by creating spaces where people from diverse backgrounds can come together and engage in meaningful dialogue. This concept of the reimagining of social relations through dialogue and  interaction is a major contribution of Tiravanija to Asian contemporary art as it forces the viewers to  think about the potential of art to bring about social and cultural change. 

Another aspect of his work is that his installations are temporary and un-fixed, which correlates with the cultural signature of  in-betweenness that is widely used in Asian cultures. This concept is especially important when talking about Southeast Asia where concepts of flow, transience and interdependence are an essential part of religions and philosophical  systems. Through the production of non-spaces which defy classification Tiravanija gets people to think about  the concept of space and place. His work is a notion of art as a situation, an activity  that occurs in the course of time and is determined by the people who participate in it. This shift  from objects to relations as the primary units of analysis is similar to the shifts going on in Asian societies  which are in constant evolution and facing issues brought about by globalization. 

In  conclusion, Rirkrit Tiravanija’s impact on Asian contemporary art is enormous as he creates situations  where people engage with each other and reflect on cultural practices and practices of globalization. His art promotes engagement  with otherness, reflection on identity and new ways of being in society. Thus, in the works  of Tiravanija, he has left a permanent mark on the notion of contemporary Asian art that is  an example of how the new cultural spaces should be created, which are able to incorporate the otherness  and produce an understanding.