Rirkrit Tiravanija ATC Lecture at UC Berkeley

About

"The land project was initiated by Rirkrit and Kamin Letchaiprasert 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 from the provincial city of Chiang Mai. It is intended to be cultivated as an open space or community free from ownership, with elements favoring discussions and experimentation in the fields of culture. The land is open to the day-to-day activities of local living (i.e. the growing of rice) and to the neighboring community. On the social field of the land, artistic practices are discussed and tested. This project, a hybrid of innovation and traditionalism, contrasts contemporary materials and technologies with ancient forms of agriculture.

While the land is a rice field and a garden, freely accessible to all, it also supports architectural constructions that may be utilized in variety of ways, from shelters for sleeping to kitchens for cooking to platforms from which to deliver 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 so far have come from both local and international artistic backgrounds, with artists such as: Kamin Letchaiprasert, Mitr Jai Inn, Tobias Rehberger, Philippe Parreno, Francois Roche, Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, Prachaya Phinthong, the artist group SUPERFLEX and Tiravanija. These small constructions vary from outhouses collecting biogas which is later converted for cooking, to kitchens and a central hall with generator powered by elephants' movements, to living (meditation) huts are designed and built as artistic and architectural experiments, although they also function as spaces which artists, students, and farmers alike can utilize. Because the land is empty of expectation, it is truly open to possibility, and in this…