PRESS RELEASE
BASEL | APRIL | 20 | 2015
Art Basel to present a new installation by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nikolaus Hirsch, Michel Müller and Antto
Melasniemi in Basel this June.
For the duration of Art Basel, 'DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY' by conceptual artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, German architects Nikolaus Hirsch/Michel Müller and Finnish chef Antto Melasniemi will be installed on Messeplatz in Basel. The new work will be an extension of Rirkrit Tiravanija's and Thai artist Kamin Lertchaiprasert's project 'the land', a self-sustaining artistic community near Chiang Mai in Thailand that engages with the idea of an artistic utopia, presenting an ecological and sustainable model for future artistic practice. Including a herbal garden, kitchen, communal dining and meeting area, the project will involve collaborations with engineers Bollinger + Grohmann and students from the Institute of Art of the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel and the Städelschule in Frankfurt to activate the work during the fair.
'DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY' can be seen and experienced as a visually striking large-scale work at the entrance to the fair and as a platform for communication. The installation invites the audience to enter a sphere of recovery and community amidst the excitement of the art fair. Creating a place of hospitality, visitors can engage through the activities on offer, such as the drinking of herbal tea plucked fresh from the on-site garden, the preparation and eating of food. The food will be rooted in Thai tradition and will be available with no fixed schedule, menu or price list: compensation is self-determined, by self-serving, serving others, donations or even participating in the cooking or washing up.
The activities and events will be run in close collaboration with students from Basel and Frankfurt, who will be working alongside Tiravanija and Melasniemi running the kitchen, preparing food and organizing additional events. Both schools, Städelschule in Frankfurt and the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel, have a cooking tradition with students being experienced in running experimental kitchens and testing new concepts of hospitality.
The installation will consist of a modular bamboo and steel structure designed by Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller within which the various themes of the project will be played out. Developed and executed in collaboration with Finnish chef Antto Melasniemi, the program will explore an ecological cycle beginning with the growing of herbs and continuing on to their use in the production of tea and culinary creations. Based on the idea of self-sufficiency, 'DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY' will employ various alternative energy models including a solar kitchen.
The installation will function as a platform to further develop the artists' ongoing 'the land' project in the form of a series of mini-symposia hosted by Hans Ulrich Obrist on themes and issues relating to the project.
At the end of the show, following its concept of transfer, the installation's structure will be shipped to 'the land' in Chiang Mai where it will form the basis for a new workshop building that will host a range of artistic projects including artistic residencies, workshops, and seminars. 'DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY' is commissioned by Art Basel.
NOTES TO EDITORS
'DO WE DREAM UNDER THE SAME SKY'
Opening times and schedule
Vernissage Sunday, June 14, open to the public
Daily from June 15 to June 21, 10am – 8pm
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and now living and working in New York, Berlin and Chiang Mai, Rirkrit Tiravanija’s work defies classification, encompassing traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching, and other forms of social engagement. Winner of the 2004 Hugo Boss Prize awarded by the Guggenheim Museum, selected solo exhibitions include Tate Modern (2013); Centre Pompidou (2012); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (2005); Serpentine Gallery (2005); Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2005); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam (2004); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1999); and Museum of Modern Art, New York (1997). London. Rirkrit Tiravanija is represented by Gavin Brown's enterprise, Galerie Chantal Crousel, kurimanzutto, neugerriemschneider and STPI.
Nikolaus Hirsch
Nikolaus Hirsch is a Frankfurt-based architect and curator. He was the director of Staedelschule and Portikus Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (2010-2013) and previously taught at the Architectural Association in London. His architectural work includes the award-winning Dresden Synagogue (2001), Hinzert Document Center (2006), and institutional models such as the Bockenheimer Depot Theater (with William Forsythe), Unitednationsplaza in Berlin (with Anton Vidokle) and Cybermohalla Hub in Delhi (2008-12), Hirsch curated 'Cultural Agencies' (Istanbul, 2009/10), numerous exhibitions at the Portikus, the Folly project for the Gwangju Biennale in Korea (2013), and the upcoming exhibition 'Wohnungsfrage' at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Hirsch is the co-editor of the Critical Spatial Practice series at Sternberg Press.
Michel Müller
Michel Müller is a professor at the University of Technology, Arts and Sciences in Cologne and has held academic positions at the Academy for Art and Design Stuttgart (2005-2010), and the HfG Karlsruhe (2004). His work includes the Power Station Darmstadt, the Machine Hall Darmstadt, and numerous exhibition architectures such as 'Making Things Public' at the ZKM (curated by Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel, 2005), and 'Indian Highway' (Serpentine Gallery, 2008). In 2004 he earned his doctorate with a dissertation on planning methods of adaptable architecture. Müller´s ongoing work on institutional models resulted in projects such as the Bockenheimer Depot Theater (with William Forsythe), Unitednationsplaza in Berlin (with Anton Vidokle), and Cybermohalla Hub in Delhi.
Antto Melasniemi
Besides running three restaurants in Helsinki Antto Melasniemi has collaborated alongside artists and designers like Martí Guixé, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Klaus Haapaniemi on performative high-concept projects like HelYes, the Solar Kitchen Restaurant and the Trojan Bar. ´Hospitality is the key for me,’ says Antto, referring to his near-obsession in making people feel. He is interested in food as a cultural phenomenon and a way of communication. The importance of dining or sharing a meal doesn’t just begin and end with what is on the plate. ´It is all the things around and connected the food that makes it fascinating`.
About 'the land'
'The land' was initiated by Rirkrit Tiravanija and Kamin Lertchaiprasert as a self-sustaining environment emerging from the artistic community. 'The land' is located in the northern part of Thailand, near the village of Sanpathong, 20 km southwest of the city of Chiang Mai. It is intended to be cultivated as an open space free of ownership, an environment conducive to discussions and experimentation in the fields of culture. 'The land' is open to the day-to-day activities of local living (i.e., the cultivation of rice) and to the neighboring community. On the social field of 'the land', artistic practices are discussed and tested. A hybrid of innovation and traditionalism, 'the land' juxtaposes contemporary materials and technologies with ancient forms of practice.
While 'the land' is inherently a rice field and a garden, freely accessible to all, it also supports architectural constructions that may be utilized in a variety of ways: from shelters for sleeping to kitchens for cooking to platforms for lectures or performances. A number of artists and architects are involved in this aspect of the land's potential, though participation is not confined solely to those in the arts. The people who have contributed to the land's structure thus far hail from both local and international backgrounds, with artists such as: Kamin Lertchaiprasert, Tobias Rehberger, Philippe Parreno, François Roche, Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Superflex, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. The most recent project at 'the land' will be designed by Frankfurt-based architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller: a structure that comprises studios, workshop space, and shelter, and involves a number of international contributors and partners.
About Art Basel
Art Basel stages the world's premier art shows for Modern and contemporary works, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. In addition to ambitious stands featuring leading galleries from around the world, each show's singular exhibition sectors spotlight the latest developments in the visual arts, offering visitors new ideas, new inspiration and new contacts in the art world.
Partners
UBS, global Lead Partner of Art Basel, has supported the organization for more than 20 years. As Art Basel’s global network has expanded, so too has UBS’s commitment and lead partnership, which includes all three shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. In addition to its support of Art Basel, UBS has a long and substantial record of engagement in contemporary art: as a holder of one of the world’s most distinguished corporate art collections, as an active partner in global contemporary art projects such as the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, and as a source of information and insights through the UBS Art Competence Center, UBS Arts Forum and its new contemporary art news-focused app, 'Planet Art'.
Associate Partners Davidoff, the prestigious Swiss cigar brand, Audemars Piguet, the independent high-end watch manufacturer, and NetJets, the world leader in private aviation, support Art Basel across its three shows. Art Basel's Media Partners are The Financial Times and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and the VIP car service at the show is by BMW. Long-standing partner AXA ART, the international art insurance specialist, provides VIP guided tours at all shows. For further information on Art Basel's partners, please visit artbasel.com/partners.
Important Dates for Media
Private View
Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 11am to 8pm (by invitation only)
Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 11am to 3pm (by invitation only)
Vernissage
Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 3pm to 8pm (by invitation only)
Public Days
Thursday, June 18, 2015, 11am to 7pm
Friday, June 19, 2015, 11am to 7pm
Saturday, June 20, 2015, 11am to 7pm
Sunday, June 21, 2015, 11am to 7pm
Press accreditation:
Online registration for press accreditation is now open and will close on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Please visit artbasel.com/accreditation.
Media information online
Media information and images can be downloaded directly from artbasel.com/press.
Journalists can subscribe to our media mailings to receive information on Art Basel.
For the latest updates on Art Basel, visit artbasel.com, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/artbasel or follow @artbasel on Instagram, Google+, Twitter, Weibo and Wechat.
Press Contacts
Art Basel, Dorothee Dines
Tel. +41 58 206 27 06, press@artbasel.com
PR Representatives for the North America, South America and the Middle East
FITZ & CO, Katrina Weber Ashour
Tel. +1 212 627 1455 ext. 1653, katrina@fitzandco.com
Click here to download a PDF of the release.
|
