On Making Less
Exhibition
Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1995 (bon voyage monsieur ackermann), 1995 © Rirkrit Tiravanija, courtesy: the artist
Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri 12:00–19:00
Sat, Sun 11:00–19:00
Tue closed
9 / reduced € 6
For more than three decades, Rirkrit Tiravanija has been expanding the possibilities of what can happen in an exhibition space. As part of his practice, the artist creates situations that offer space to eat and drink, play and rest. They encourage chance encounters, relationships and their failure – in other words: life.
The exhibition DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG (Happiness is not always fun) presents more than 80 of the artist’s works created between 1987 and 2024. Throughout his work, Tiravanija, who lives and works partly in Berlin, has often referred to cultural clichés and politics in Germany. In this vein, the exhibition takes its title from the opening sequence of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), an important point of reference for Tiravanija.
“Art was always trying to give people an opportunity to act freely. To think freely, to see freely, to hear freely.”
— Rirkrit Tiravanija
DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG brings together early installations, experimental 8mm films and photographs, along with regular activations of participatory works. On various days, visitors can have T-shirts screen-printed with Tiravanija’s slogans or make music in a fully equipped rehearsal studio within the exhibition. One installation, consisting of eight ping-pong tables, invites visitors to play in the freely accessible atrium of the Gropius Bau. With the spiral-shaped stage untitled 2024 (demo station no. 8), offering space for daily public performances, the atrium becomes a place where people can come together and spend time with friends and strangers.
10 Questions to Rirkrit Tiravanija
Activation Schedule
|
13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 17:00 | All day | |
| MON |  |  |  | ||
| TUE | — | — | — | — | — |
| WED | | | |||
| THU | | | | ||
| FRI | | |  | ||
| SAT | | | | ||
| SUN | | | |
DAILY     |
= Turkish Coffee | = Tea | = Jam session | = Ping-pong | = Silkscreen workshop | = Soup | = Activation of the stage | = Activation of the installation
Image Gallery
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1997 (a demonstration by faust as a sausage and franz biberkopf as a potato), 1997, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 2024 (السؤال هو غداً) (tomorrow is the question) (morgen ist die frage) (jutro jest pytaniem) (завтра это вопрос) (yarindir soru) (Завтра питання) (ngày mai là câu hỏi) / untitled 2024 (demo station no. 8), 2024, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 2022 (chance will never abolish), 2022, detail, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1992 (cure), 1992, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1995 (bon voyage monsieur ackermann), 1995, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1994 (angst essen seele auf), 1994, Installationsansicht, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1993 (café deutschland), 1993, detail, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 2014-2016 (curry for the soul of the forgotten), 2014-2016, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 1996 (rehearsal studio no. 6), 1996 / untitled 1998 (das soziale kapital) (sign), 1998, installation view, Rirkrit Tiravanija: DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG, Gropius Bau, 2024
© Gropius Bau, photo: Guannan Li
Curated by Jenny Schlenzka, Director, Gropius Bau, Yasmil Raymond, Independent Curator, and Christopher Wierling, Assistant Curator, Gropius Bau
Curatorial Advisor: Jörn Schafaff, Independent Curator and Author
Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation
As part of Berlin Art Week
With thanks to the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Partners: Wall Dussmann Bouvet
Media partners: arte Monopol BerlinArt Link gallerytalk.net flair H.O.M.E Artsof the Working Class Rausgegangen Diffus RadioTeddy ChâteauRoyal