Rirkrit Tiravanija: The Shop

Tiravanija is best known for his intimate, participatory installations that revolve around personal and shared communal traditions, such as cooking Thai meals, that are, in the words of curator Rochelle Steiner, “fundamentally about bringing people together.”

For this presentation, Tiravanija will replicate an umbrella repair shop, of the kind commonly found in Hong Kong. Installed on the gallery’s sixth floor, the shop will be stocked with a full inventory of umbrellas and other elements inspired by its real-life counterparts, continuing Tiravanija’s longtime practice of highlighting and incorporating local, vernacular objects and forms into his works.

Other spaces within the exhibition include augmented reality, robotics, and other advanced technologies, which the artist has increasingly incorporated into his work, resulting in unique experiential environments that engage the viewer’s perception of time, space, and reality.