esther@estherchoi.net
Trained in photography and architectural history and theory, Esther Choi's work adopts different formats: from photographs and videos to installations, books, sculptures and texts. Bridging disciplines, her diverse practice has focused on the social architectures of everyday life, often examining the political potential of ordinary spaces and rituals to act as tools for cultural analysis. In her projects, history and photography are not regarded as ways to simply record facts, but rather as complex practices of description that can reveal the prevailing ideas, assumptions and experiences of an era.
She is the creator of Le Corbuffet (Prestel, 2019), an artist’s book that appropriates the cookbook format to explore how the cultural canon is consumed and reproduced. Her photographs have been commissioned by publications such as T: The New York Times Style Magazine and Dazed and Confused.
Choi’s essays on topics related to social practice, ecological politics and the image economy have appeared in Artforum, Art Papers, and PIN-UP, and in publications for the Walker Art Center and ETH Zürich. She is the coeditor of Architecture At the Edge of Everything Else (MIT Press, 2010) and Architecture Is All Over (Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2017).
Choi has a PhD in the History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University. She holds degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Design, Concordia University and Ryerson University.
Born in Toronto, Canada, she lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
- Education
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2019
Ph.D., Princeton University, History and Theory of Architecture; Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities (joint degree)
Dissertation: The Organization of Life: Architecture and the Life Sciences in Britain, 1921–1951 -
2014
M.A., Princeton University, History and Theory of Architecture
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2008
MDes, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, History and Theory of Architecture
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2007
MFA, Concordia University, Studio Arts, Photography
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2001
BFA (Hon.), Ryerson University, Photography
- Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
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2020
Texas State Galleries, San Marcos, TX (Forthcoming)
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2020
Der Mensch, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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2008
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Cambridge, MA
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2007
Continuous Structures, Espace 528, Centre d’art Belgo, Montréal, QC
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2007
Galerie Thérèse Dion, Montréal, QC
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2006
Gemini (In collaboration with Leigh Davis), Bourget Gallery, Montréal, QC
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2001
Running with the Devil (with Katia Taylor) Ryerson Gallery, Toronto, ON
- Selected Group Exhibitions
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2020
Fulfilled, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University. Curator: Ashley Bigham
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2018
Changes of State, with Anthony Acciavatti, Water Futures, A/D/O, Brooklyn, New York. Curator: Jane Withers
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2018
On Sympathy: A one-off Occasion hosted by Isabel Lewis as part of The Classical Now exhibition, Kings College London, UK
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2012
Break/Step, Radiator Gallery, Long Island City, NY. Curator: Eileen Jeng
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2012
Horizon Variations, Camera Club of New York, New York, NY. Curator: Elizabeth Saperstein
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2011
Summer Group Show, Angell Gallery, Toronto, ON. Curator: Gareth Brown-Jowett
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2009
Elektra Festival International Arts Numériques (10th Edition), Usine-C, Montréal, QC (May 1-10, 2009)
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2007
Group Show, Galerie Thérèse Dion (Espace 2), Montréal, QC
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2006
Ignition 3, Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery, Montréal, QC (Dec.7-Jan 6, 2007) Curator: Marie-Josée Jean and Michèle Thériault
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2005
Décalage, The Parisian Laundry, Montréal, QC. Curator: Jeanie Riddle
- Books
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2019
Le Corbuffet: Edible Art and Design Classics (New York/ London/ Munich: Prestel Publishers, Forthcoming).
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2017
Architecture Is All Over. Edited by Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2017).
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2010
Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else. Edited by Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
- Press and Reviews
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2020
Daniel Beatty Garcia, "Punishable: Esther Choi Eats Our Idols," 032c, Issue 37 (Winter 2019/20): 292–93. Print.
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2020
Kay Schadewald, “Le Corbuffet: (Koch-)Kunst und Kritik,” Architectural Digest (Germany) (Jan. 19, 2020).
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2020
Eleanor Gibson, "Le Corbuffet cookbook includes recipes for Rem Brûlée and Denise Scott Brownies," Dezeen (Jan.10, 2020). Web.
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2019
Bryan Hood, "10 Gorgeously Illustrated Coffee Table Books That the Readers in Your Life Will Love," Robb Report (Dec. 20, 2019). Web.
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2019
Joshua David Stein, "The Best Gifts for Cooking Dads of All Levels," Epicurious (Dec. 13, 2019).
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2019
"Lina Bo Bacardi Cocktail," Avery Shorts (Dec. 12, 2019).
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2019
Ashley Tibbits, "9 Coffee Table Book Gifts that Double as Beautiful Decor," The Zoe Report (Dec. 3, 2019).
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2019
Frances Anderton, "Create an artful dinner party with ‘Le Corbuffet’," (Radio interview) DnA, KCRW, Los Angeles (Nov. 26, 2019).
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2019
"Bourgondiër," de Volksrant (Nov. 24, 2019).
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2019
"AN rounds up our must-reads for this fall," Architect's Newspaper (Nov. 15, 2019).
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2019
"41 of the Year’s Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books," New York Magazine (Nov. 12, 2019).
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2019
Margaux Krehl, "Art de vivre : « Le Corbuffet », le livre de recettes qui cuisine les stars de l’Art," Vanity Fair (France) (Nov. 9, 2019).
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2019
Peter Smisek, "Food for thought: Le Corbuffet brings architectural history to the dinner table," Icon Magazine (Nov. 1, 2019).
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2019
Todd Plummer, “11 Fall Cookbooks for Every Type of Foodie.” Vogue (Oct. 16, 2019).
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2019
LinYee Yuan, “Le Corbuffet is a riotous homage to the art and design of cooking” Interview, MOLD Magazine (Oct. 5, 2019).
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2019
Emma Orlow, “A Salad for Frida Kahlo and Other Artist-Inspired Recipes,” T: The New York Times Style Magazine (Sept. 20, 2019).
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2019
Kelly Caminero, “Edible Art: A Menu of Satire and Photography with a Culinary Twist” (Interview), The Daily Beast (Oct. 5, 2019).
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2019
Anne Quito, “Le Corbuffet: A new recipe book affectionately skewers culture snobs,” Quartzy (Oct. 4, 2019).
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2019
Alexandra Alexa, “This Conceptual Cookbook Riffs on Art, Design and Taste (Literally and Figuratively,” Core 77 (Oct. 2, 2019).
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2019
Angie Kordic, “An Art Cookbook Like No Other: Esther Choi in an Interview,” Widewalls (Oct. 1, 2019).
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2019
“Esther Choi’s Book of Satirical and Playful Recipes,”Design Milk (Sept.26, 2019).
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2019
Alegria Olmeda, “Le Corbuffet o cómo comerse el arte,” FUET Magazine (Sept. 9, 2019).
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2019
Holly Black, “Let’s Eat! Delicious Art-Inspired Recipes,” Elephant Magazine (Aug. 25, 2019).
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2019
Valentina Tanni, “Arte e cibo. Arriva Le Corbuffet, il ricettario concettuale di Esther Choi,” Artribune (Aug. 25, 2019).
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2019
“A Conceptual Cookbook Makes Food Into Sculptures,” Artnet News (Aug. 23, 2019).
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2019
Kate Sierzputowski, “Le Corbuffet: Conceptual Cookbook Presents Art-Inspired Recipes as Contemporary Sculptures,” Colossal (Aug. 22, 2019).
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2019
Jason Kottke, “Le Corbuffet,” Kottke (Aug. 20, 2019).
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2019
“Critical Connoisseur” (Interview), Block Magazine 18 (Spring/ Summer 2019): 16–17.
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2018
“Who are the Pritzkers?” (Podcast interview), Monocle on Design, Monocle Radio (June 12, 2018).
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2018
Robert Wiesenberger, Review of Architecture is All Over, Art Papers (Winter 2017/2018).
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2017
Sammy Medina, “The Architecture Book Is Alive but Evolving,” Metropolis (Dec. 2017).
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2017
Kristina Ljubanovic, “It was all a dream,” Globe and Mail (Nov. 2, 2017).
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2017
Mollie Claypool, “Architecture Is All Over,” The Journal of Architecture 22, 7 (Sept. 2017): 2162–65.
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2017
Christopher Hawthorne, “Two decades after Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao, where does architecture stand?” Los Angeles Times (Oct. 12, 2017).
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2017
Sammy Medina, “Is Architecture Finished? Depends on How You Define It.” Metropolis vol. 36, 11 (2017): 162-65.
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2015
Jan Kattein, “Made in Architecture: Education as collaborative practice,” Architectural Research Quarterly vol. 19, 3 (2015): 295–306.
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2008
Janice Lindsay, “Why Walls are made for murals,” Globe and Mail (Feb.2, 2008).
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2005
“Jeanie Riddle shakes things up and causes stuff to shift at the Parisian Laundry,”Zeke’s Gallery (April 28, 2005).
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2002
Terrence Dick, “Three Short Essays on Growing Up,” Fuse Magazine (May 2002).
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2001
John Gemmell, “Metalheads Are People Too,” The Eye Opener (Sept. 19, 2001).
- Fellowships, Grants and Awards
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2019
Richard Rogers Fellowship
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2018
Princeton Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities Travel Grant
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2018
Princeton Postclassicisms Global Collaborative Network Travel Grant
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2017
Princeton Interdisciplinary Humanities Doctoral Program Fellowship
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2014-16
Howard Crosby Butler Traveling Fellowship in Architecture, Princeton University
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2011-16
Henry N. Young III Fellowship, Princeton University School of Architecture
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2014-15
Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies Travel Fellowship
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2015
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
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2015
Canadian Centre for Architecture–TD Bank Group Research Grant
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2015
Society for Architectural Historians Graduate Fellowship
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2014
Graduate School Dean’s Fund for Scholarly Travel, Princeton University
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2012-13
Joseph Sanford Shanley ’17 Memorial Award, Princeton School of Architecture
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2010
Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada Institutional Grant
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2010
Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada
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2008
Harvard Graduate School of Design International Student Grant
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2007
International Council for Canadian Studies Graduate Scholarship
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2007
Harvard University International Employment Award
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2007
Ontario Student Opportunity Grant
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2007
Centre Interuniversitaire des Arts Mêdiatiques Project Grant
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2006
Toronto Arts Council Media Arts Grant
- Selected Writing
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2019
"Sustainability's Image Problem," On the Right to Loot for Enough: The Architecture of Degrowth, Oslo Architecture Triennale, Library Stack, 2019.
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2019
"A Nature Like Us: Round and Round with Frank Lloyd Wright," Guggenheim Museum. Web. (Forthcoming)
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2018
"Introduction: This Must Be the Place," Dash Marshall: Matter Battle, 45 Lessons Learned (New York, 2018)
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2017
"Disorderly Conduct: Reimagining a World Built with Lava," SSENSE.
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2017
“Second Lives” in Reaper: Richard Hamilton, Sigfried Giedion. ed. Carson Chan (Zurich: JRP Ringier, 2017).
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2017
“User Experience: Rick Owens New York,” SSENSE.
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2017
“Insides and Outsides: On 'The Other Architect'," Journal for Architectural Education.
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2017
"An Appeal to Consciousness," Paprika - Fold: 3-01: Foundations. Yale School of Architecture .
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2017
“Introduction: The Crisis of the Crisis,” with Marrikka Trotter, Architecture Is All Over (New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2017).
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2016
“New Power Generation: Interview with MOS,” PIN-UP Magazine (Fall/ Winter 2016-17).
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2015
“Sociable Realism: On Assemble,” Artforum vol. 54, issue 3 (November 2015): 133–34.
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2015
“Atmospheres of Institutional Critique: Haus-Rucker-Co’s Pneumatic Temporality,” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia., ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 31–43.
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2015
“On Covers, Connections, and Criticality: Interview with Günter Zamp Kelp, Haus-Rucker-Co” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 395–402.
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2015
“Unspeakable Signs: Interview with ONYX,” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 411–18.
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2015
“Natural Disasters,” Into the Wild, ed. Caitlin Sutherland (Hamilton: Hamilton Artists Inc., 2015)
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2015
“Photographic Architecture” (Book review), Art Papers (Jan. 2015): 63-4.
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2014
“Art Post-Internet Questionnaire,” Art Post- Internet (exh. cat.). Curated by Karen Archey and Robin Peckham (Beijing: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, 2014).
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2013
“From Object to Field: Sketches for a Virtual Ecology,” in Krabbesholm Høj Skole Studio by MOS (Skive: Krabbesholm 2013).
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2012
“Radical Pedagogies in Architectural Education,” with Beatriz Colomina, Ignacio Gonzalez-Galan, Anna-Maria Meister The Architectural Review 233 (October 2012): 78-83.
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2010
“How Does It Feel to Feel?,” Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else, eds. Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
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2010
“Airtight: A Conversation between Philippe Rahm and Esther Choi,” Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else, eds. Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
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2010
“Introduction: The Name of the Game,” with Marrikka Trotter, Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010).
- Talks, Conferences, Events and Panels
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2020
"Doctorin' the Tardis," Artist Lecture. University of Tennessee Knoxville (Feb. 10, 2020 ).
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2019
Le Corbuffet meets the Schindlers: Esther Choi in conversation with Laurel Broughton and Mimi Zeiger. MAK Center for Art & Architecture, Los Angeles, CA (Oct. 26, 2019).
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2019
"Sustainability's Image Problem," Cornell AAP (Oct. 9, 2019)
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2019
Le Corbuffet: Esther Choi in conversation with LinYee Yuan of Mold Magazine. Archestratus, Brooklyn NY (October 4, 2019 ).
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2018
"Rem Brûlée and Other Hits: Social Alchemy as a Spatial Practice," Sci-Arc, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 14, 2018)
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2018
"The Compositing Impulse," VIS-2226: Digital Media: Image, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA (Oct. 31, 2018)
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2018
"The Compositing Impulse," Architectural Design Studio: Collecting, Combining, Collaging Architecture—and Other Acts of Radical Reuse, Sarah Lawrence College, Yonkers, New York (Nov. 2, 2018)
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2018
"Walter Gropius's Last Meal in London (and recent projects)," Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA (October 30, 2018)
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2018
"The Nature of the Beast: Tecton and the Gorilla House at the London Zoo," Media and Modernity Doctoral Colloquium, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (May 15, 2018)
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2018
"Against the Architectural Imagination: Sustainability's Image Problem," Panel: Towards an Aesthetics of Geology in the Age of Anthropocene, Association for Art History Conference, King's College London and Courtauld Institute, UK (April 7, 2018)
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2018
“Microbes”, a conversation between Orkan Telhan and Esther Choi, Spring 2018 Mellon Research Forum on the Urban Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (April 2, 2018)
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2018
"Against the Architectural Imagination: Sustainability's Image Problem," Cranbrook Academy of Art, Architecture Lecture Series, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI (March 21, 2018) link
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2018
"Audience/ Experience" panel with Lucia Allais, André Brock, Esther Choi and Megan Sapnar Ankerson, moderated by Thom Moran and Laida Aguirre. Becoming Digital Conference, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Planning, Ann Arbor, MI (Feb. 3, 2018)
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2017
"The Nature of the Beast: Tecton and the Gorilla House at the London Zoo," The Center for Experimental Humanities, New York University, New York, NY (Nov. 3, 2017)
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2017
Architecture Is All Over - Soft Book Launch and Discussion, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Planning (Sept. 21, 2017)
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2017
“Common Denominators: Biotechnics and Architectural Modernism," GSD HIS-04491: Narratives of Design Science, Harvard University GSD (March 24, 2017)
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2016
“Rethinking Radicalism,” Free Radicals Symposium, Cranbrook Art Museum (October 9, 2016)
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2016
"Ganges Water Machine: Designing New India’s Ancient River. A Discussion on Visualizing Environmental Change" with Anthony Acciavatti, Sean Anderson, Esther Choi, Upmanu Lall, Rhode Island School of Design, SY Partners, New York, NY (March 29, 2016)
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2015
“Frederick Kiesler’s Magic Architecture” Workshop led by Spyros Papapetros with Gerd Zillner, Laura McGuire, Stephen Phillips, Felicity Scott, Lucia Allais, Craig Buckley, Esther Choi, Michelle Fornabai, Romy Golan, James Graham, Nadine Helm, Steven Lauritano, Ara Merjian, Rachel L. Price, Effie Rentzou, Julian Rose, Carolyn Yerkes , Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (April 24, 2015)
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2015
“Ornament and Evolution in ‘The Age of Force’.” Panel: Darwinism and the Evolution of American Architecture. Society for Architectural Historians Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (April 15-19, 2015)
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2015
“Frederick Kiesler’s On Correalism and Biotechniques.”GSD HIS-04491: Narratives of Design Science, Harvard University GSD (April 8, 2015)
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2014
“On Frederick Kiesler’s On Correalism and Biotechniques.” Panel: Making Reality Visible: Redefining the Art and Reality Relation in the 21st Century. Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, OCAD University, Toronto, ON (Oct. 23-26, 2014)
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2014
"Trend Forecasting” discussion with Greg Fong, Sean Monahan and Emily Segal (K-Hole); Michael Rock; Michael Meredith; Axel Kilian; Lucia Allais; Alejandro Zaera-Polo; Carson Chan; Esther Choi; Liam Young. SoA Lecture Series, “The New How”, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (Oct. 8, 2014)
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2014
“From Shirts to Shelter: On Frederick Kiesler’s Biotechnical Correality.” Cornell University AAP, New York
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2012
“Atmospheres of Institutional Critique: Haus-Rucker-Co’s Pneumatic Temporality,” Panel: Artistic Research and Institutional Critique. Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, Concordia University, Montréal, QC (Nov. 2, 2012)
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2010
"Artists’ Research Round Table" panel discussion moderated by Rebecca Duclos, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
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2009
Artist Talk, International Marketplace for Digital Arts Conference, Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montréal, QC
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1996
"On Fanzines and DIY Feminism," York University, Dept. of Women's Studies. Toronto, ON
- Residencies
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2018
Artist in residence, Concordia University, Dept. of Photography, Montréal, QC
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2010
Xerox Visiting Artist Researcher, Toronto, ON