Rirkrit Tiravanija, Soup/No Soup

As a prelude to the opening of the Triennale, on April 20, 2012 at the Palais de Tokyo and the associated venues in Paris and its suburbs, contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will present Soup/No Soup, a project that will transform the Nave of the Grand Palais into a gigantic festive banquet whose menu will consist of a Tom Ka soup. Open to all, this project, presented for the first time in Paris, takes up under the same title, but on a larger scale, a work presented for the first time in the exhibition dedicated to the artist, in New York in January 2011.

On Saturday, April 7, for twelve hours, from noon to midnight, the Grand Palais will be open to the public for free to share a soup prepared and offered by the artist and his team. Generous but modest, collective but singular, Soup/No Soup is a great gathering where everyone can live a transactional, intangible experience, based on exchange, encounter and generosity. From passive spectator, the visitor will become active participant in a work under construction.

Since the early 1990s, the artistic practice of Tiravanija has focused on a series of projects whose preparation and sharing of meals by visitors to its facilities is the context for an exploration of the notion of community and associative life. Emphasizing the sense of conviviality and exchange, Tiranavija allows public meetings focused on the preparation, sharing and consumption of food. Such actions can be read as the production of literal and interpesonnel spaces where visitors create a kind of architecture of hospitality and social sculpture.

Preceded by the work of other contemporary artists engaged in the culinary field, such as "Food" (1971-73), the restaurant of Gordon Matta-Clark, the works of Tiranavija create a rich dialogue with what Marcel Mauss described as the ineligibility of the gift, or, in other words, the possession, gift, receipt of objects. Moreover, although Tiranavija favors Thai recipes in its meals, it avoids simplifying associations of exoticism, rather emphasizing the intangible and interpersonal dimensions of shared experience.

With Soup/No Soup, the Triennale immediately declares its desire to unite all its energies around an artistic project that is both ambitious and open to all. Beyond this considerably expanded version of Soup/No Soup, The Triennale 2012 will present, at the Palais de Tokyo, another project by Rirkrit Tiranavija.

Soup/No Soup supported by The Absolut Company.
Soup/No Soup benefits from the participation of Emmaus Solidarité residents.

For more information  www.latriennale.org