That day, Tiravanija’s ‘Pad Thai’ altered expectations of how art is perceived, forging a connection between artist and audience beyond the object on display. “At the time, it was very challenging for people to understand how this was art,” says the 63-year-old.
Born in Buenos Aires to Thai parents, he grew up moving between countries — living in Montreal, Chicago, New York, Chiang Mai, and Berlin — shaping his view of art as a social space rather than an object to be made, finished, and shown.
Inspired by artists like Marcel Duchamp, Kazimir Malevich, and the Fluxus movement, art was never just an object for him, but a way of being in the world. His works often became spaces where people could connect and interact, whether through cooking Pad Thai for strangers or hosting a twelve-hour banquet of Tom Kha soup as a prelude to the opening of La Triennale 2012.