Daily Practice: Rirkrit Tiravanija

Among the inspirations behind curator Nicholas Bourriaud’s term "relational aesthetics," artist Rirkrit Tiravanija has long explored participatory forms of art, incorporating everything from cooking, teaching and object-making into his practice. Famously, he staged pad thai in New York in 1990, which re-contextualised the white cube as a site for participatory gatherings anchored to the grounded rituals of daily life, by cooking Thai food for his audience. Eight years later, in 1998, he co-founded the Land Foundation near Chiang Mai with Kamin Lertchaiprasert—a farm, artist community, and experiment in sustainable living.

More recently in 2018, Tiravanija presented untitled 2018 (the infinite dimensions of smallness), the National Gallery Singapore’s second Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission, which housed a Japanese teahouse at the centre of a large-scale bamboo maze. Returning to Singapore in 2026 to transform STPI into a place to gather, eat, make, play and talk for his solo show SAY YES TO EVERYTHING, Tiravanija takes on John Clang’s Daily Practice questions, revealing the things that shape his day.

When you wake up and begin your day, which direction do you naturally walk towards first and why?

I go south towards the bathroom.

Does your day naturally divide into phases, such as morning, afternoon, and evening? How does the rhythm and energy of these phases affect your creativity and focus?

I think about the day between speeds. Fast in the morning, a brisk walk around the lake. Then medium fast, driving slowly or walking towards the coffee shop for a triple shot hot-but-not-sweet mocha. Medium, listening to Von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic and Wiener Singverein’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K.626. Medium slow, answering text messages. Slow, sitting and thinking. Slower, laying down, checking YouTube or the internet for different subjects needing to be researched. From slow, thinking. Immobile, dreaming.

Do you have any small routines or actions, like a personal ritual or quiet signal, that help activate your creativity each day?

Yes, not doing anything.

Where do you work, and what does that space need for you to feel focused?

Just in my head, just thinking freely without focus, letting the mind wander.

Is there an aspect of your everyday life, beyond art and culture, that significantly yet quietly shapes your artistic practice?

Yes, trying hard to do nothing.

What tools, objects, or materials hold meaning for you, even if you don’t use them in your work?

My memory, remembering not to do too much and make the same mistakes of doing too much.

How do you handle moments of block, fatigue, or disconnection?

Letting go, and breathe.

What do you notice in the quiet moments?

Emptiness is very full.

At the end of each day, what feelings, images, thoughts, or questions stay with you?

I was good to be with myself; how can I do less tomorrow?

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Daily Practice invites art-world creatives to share the habits and rituals that sustain their creative lives, with questions written by artist John Clang, whose practice adopts the ancient Chinese divinatory art of zi wei dou shu.