do it (outside)

In collaboration with Independent Curators International (ICI), Socrates Sculpture Park presents do it (outside), an exhibition conceived of and curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. With historical antecedents in Dada and Fluxus, do it (outside) is a selection of artists’ instructions interpreted by other artists, performers, community groups, and the public. In the last 20 years, versions of do it have been presented in over 50 venues worldwide, giving new meaning to the concept of the “Exhibition in Progress.” do it (outside) at Socrates Sculpture Park was the first presentation of the exhibition in New York City and the first presented completely outdoors in a public art venue.

The instructions and resulting works were presented in and around a site-specific design by Christoff : Finio Architecture, the NY-based architecture and design studio of Taryn Christoff and Martin Finio. Their design included 587 linear feet of sidewalk bridge that stretched across the grounds to create a pergola, corridor and courtyard within the park.

The opening of the exhibition on May 12, 2013 from 2-6PM coincided with the launch of the publication, do it: the compendium (co-published by Independent Curators International and D.A.P.) from which the instructions presented were selected. At Socrates, over sixty published artist instructions were brought into existence by artists, performers, community groups, and the public resulting in installations that ranged from the explicitly sculptural, to the performative, to the poetic or absurd. At the opening, more than a dozen performing artists selected by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture interpreted more than 20 instructions throughout the day.

This 20th-anniversary show premieres a significant number of new instructions along with those from the first do it experiments. Artists’ instructions presented at Socrates Sculpture Park will include the artists listed above, and have been interpreted by:

Korakrit Arunanondchai, Jesus Benavente, Jane Benson & Ajay Kurian, Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Daniel Bozhkov, Christoff : Finio Architecture, Alison Dell & Rob Swainston, Tamar Ettun, Rachel Fainter, Cathy Fairbanks, Lars Fisk, Luz Fleming, Linda Ganjian, Elissa Goldstone, James Haddrill & Daniel Roberts, Charles Harlan, Rachel Higgins, Chelsea Knight & Jonathan VanDyke, Kat Kohl, Rainy Lehrman, Shaun Leonardo, Marie Lorenz, Katie Mangiardi, Julie Ann Nagle, Rhiannon Platt, Jory Rabinovitz, Birgit Rathsmann, Grayson Revoir, Andrew Ross, Becky Sellinger, Sabrina Shapiro, Nataliya Slinko, Chris Sollars, Jennifer Sullivan, Leonard White, Carmen Winant, Jody Wood, Brian Zegeer, and XXX Coffee, among others.