Rirkrit Tiravanija is an Argentinian born, Thai artist, whose practice is aligned with the ethic of social engagement. Rejecting the traditional art object, as a form of aesthetic contemplation, Tiravanija´s work takes on the shape of happenings and events. Sculptures and objects that are part of these events than become the event’s embodiment. As one of the pioneers of Relational Aesthetics, a mode of art defined by French art critic Nicolas Bourriaud as a set of artistic practices, which take as their point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, thus decentralizing the role of the artist, Tiravanija ignores the prescribed division between art and life and deconstructs the concept of art into its basic components. Remaining faithful to the gallery and (art)institutional context, around and within which most of his happenings or events take place, Tiravanija, who takes on the role of a catalyst, invites viewers to inhabit and activate his work through participation.

Untitled 2001 (siegerkranzstapel), 2001 is a stack of winner’s crowns belonging to Heinz-Herald Frenzen and Nick Heitfeld, racers of Formula 1. Tiravanija has invited Frenzen and Heitfeld to participate in his event entitled The Two Sons of Monchengladbach, 2001 at Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach. Both born in Mönchengladbach, the event, which included an electric car circuit available for visitors to play, and two original race cars driven by Frenzen and Heitfeld, encouraged visitors to join the artist and the Formula 1 stars for a barbecue and a live screening of a race at Nürburgring . Untitled 2001 (siegerkranzstapel), which was part of the event, like many of Tiravanija’s commonplace objects, becomes a residue of the actual event and a stimulator of new interactions, whether physical or purely imaginative.

MC