“do it” Contemporary Art Exhibition

The “do it” project was initiated in 1993 by noted curator and art critic Hans Ulrich Obrist and two artists based on their conversations about how to make exhibitions more flexible and open. In the end, they decided to put on an experimental exhibition. The exhibited pieces were not finished works of art; they were art games developed from different artists’ ideas or notions, which in turn encouraged more people to give instructions for the artist to interpret and implement. As long as people are still acting on these instructions, the exhibition will not end. As a result, “do it” became an important, marathon exhibition that has continued for more than 20 years, giving it a notable place in exhibition history.

This is the first time that the “do it” project will be presented in China, and it was the contemporary art exhibition chosen for this year’s iSTART Children’s Art Festival. The project is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and jointly presented by Luxelakes · A4 Art Museum and Independent Curators International. The exhibition will showcase instructions given to 26 internationally-renowned artists practicing in curatorship, painting, sculpture, design, film, architecture, video, dance, and performance, such as artists Yoko Ono, Sol LeWitt, Tracey Emin, Christian Boltanski, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Cao Fei, film director David Lynch, architects Yona Friedman and Kazuyo Sejima, designer Konstantin Grcic, and RAQS Media Collective.

The final presentation of the “do it” project at the A4 Art Museum will depend on nearly one thousand local co-creators from all walks of life. Participants of all ages can engage with the project through museums, schools, neighborhoods, families, and the internet. All participants will creatively interpret the instructions and add their own experiences and creativity to the exhibition, which will allow them to collaborate with, create, and reflect on interesting works of art. Examples include a wish tree built with the wishes of different people, a city comprised of hundreds of people’s ideal blueprints, a good-name library containing numerous donations, the signatures or graffiti left on museum, a party that anyone can attend, an architecture designed for animals, or an artwork that might make an animal smile. As Marcel Duchamp said, “Art is a game between all people of all periods.” The goal of “do it” is to encourage and activate the public through “making” art together and approaching and thinking about creative meaning. The project also eliminates the absolute authority of museums, curators, and artists and transforms art museums into open platforms for participation, action, and creation.