BOOK FORMAT Paperback, 8 x 10 in. / 448 pgs / 300 bw.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 4/30/2013 Out of stock indefinitely
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: SPRING 2013 p. 73
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781938922015TRADE List Price: $35.00 CDN $47.50
AVAILABILITY Not available
TERRITORY WRLD Export via T&H
"Do It is a kind of Catcher in the Rye for the curatorial world; it is transformative mandatory reading that connects a blurr of dots into a cohesive inviting image of both the art universe and the universe of ideas." — Douglas Coupland
Edited and with introduction by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Foreword by Kate Fowle. Text by Bruce Altshuler.
Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Do It began in Paris in 1993 as a conversation between the artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier and Obrist himself, who was experimenting with how exhibition formats could be rendered more flexible and open-ended. The discussion led to the question of whether a show could take “scores” or written instructions by artists as a point of departure, which could be interpreted anew each time they were enacted. To test the idea, Obrist invited 13 artists to send instructions, which were then translated into nine different languages and circulated internationally as a book. Within two years, Do It exhibitions were being created all over the world by realizing the artists’ instructions. With every version of the exhibition new instructions were added, so that today more than 300 artists have contributed to the project. Constantly evolving and morphing into different versions of itself, Do It has grown to encompass “Do It (Museum),” “Do It (Home),” “Do It (TV),” “Do It (Seminar)” as well as some “Anti-Do Its”, a “Philosophy Do It” and, most recently, a “UNESCO Children’s Do It.” Nearly 20 years after the initial conversation took place, Do It has been featured in at least 50 different locations worldwide. To mark the twentieth anniversary of this landmark project, this new publication presents the history of this ambitious enterprise and gives new impetus to its future. It includes an archive of artists’ instructions, essays contextualizing Do It, documentation from the history of the exhibition and instructions by 200 artists from all over the world selected by Obrist, among them Carl Andre, Jimmie Durham, Dan Graham, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay and Rosemarie Trockel, including 60 new instructions from Matias Faldbakken, Theaster Gates, Sarah Lucas, David Lynch, Rivane Neuenschwander and Ai Weiwei, among many others.
Featured image, by Jérôme Bel, is reproduced from Do It: the Compendium.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Time Out Magazine
Jonathan Aprea
Obrist recruited more than 60 artists (icluding Ai Weiwei and David Lynch) to write instructionsfor creating all manner of works, which have been interpreted by others and put on display alongside those directions.
Art in America
Editors
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Obrist's ongoing curatorial experiment, this anthology collects 250 "scores"—written instructions for the production of an artwork—from the artists invited to participate in the 50 iterations of the globally traveling "do it" exhibition to date.
STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely.
FROM THE BOOK
"In 1993 I was at Café Select in Paris with Bertrand Lavier and Christian Boltanski discussing instruction works and how-to manuals and then we had this idea: what would happen if we started an exhibition that wouldn’t ever stop?" — Hans Ulrich Obrist
Through Monday, May 13, ARTBOOK and Koenig Books, Europe's leading specialist art bookstore, present New York City's largest-ever pop-up store for the Frieze New York art fair on Randall's Island. Featuring more than 1500 titles from around the world, as well as a large selection of limited editions and rare and out of print titles, the store is located near the Southern entrance to the fair, beside the VIP lounge. Featured here are Franz Koenig of Koenig Books and Skuta Helgason, director of ARTBOOK at MoMA PS1 and all ARTBOOK pop-ups. For information about ARTBOOK at MoMA PS1's launch party for Hans Ulrich Obrist's new collection, Do It: The Compendium, please see our blog. continue to blog
From May 10-13, ARTBOOK and Koenig Books, Europe's leading specialist art bookstore, present New York City's largest-ever pop-up store for the Frieze New York art fair on Randall's Island. Featuring more than 1500 titles from around the world, as well as a large selection of limited editions and rare and out of print titles, the store is located near the Southern entrance to the fair, beside the VIP lounge. Featured image, by Lawrence Weiner, is reproduced from Do It: The Compendium, edited and initiated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and published in this expanded twentieth anniversary edition by Independent Curators International and D.A.P.. Advance copies of the book are available only at ARTBOOK & Koenig Books at Frieze New York and ARTBOOK at MoMA PS1. Visit our booth and our store to buy a copy of this landmark publication and receive a free Do It tote bag! continue to blog
From May 10-13, ARTBOOK and Koenig Books, Europe's leading specialist art bookstore, present New York City's largest-ever pop-up store for the Frieze New York art fair on Randall's Island. Featuring more than 1500 titles from around the world, as well as a large selection of limited editions and rare and out of print titles, the store is located near the Southern entrance to the fair, beside the VIP lounge. Featured image, by Lawrence Weiner, is reproduced from Do It: The Compendium, edited and initiated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and published in this expanded twentieth anniversary edition by Independent Curators International and D.A.P.. Advance copies of the book are available only at ARTBOOK & Koenig Books at Frieze New York and ARTBOOK at MoMA PS1. Visit our booth and our store to buy a copy of this landmark publication and receive a free Do It tote bag! continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 8 x 10 in. / 448 pgs / 300 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $35.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $47.5 ISBN: 9781938922015 PUBLISHER: Independent Curators International/D.A.P. AVAILABLE: 4/30/2013 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WRLD Export via T&H
Published by Independent Curators International/D.A.P.. Edited and with introduction by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Foreword by Kate Fowle. Text by Bruce Altshuler.
Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Do It began in Paris in 1993 as a conversation between the artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier and Obrist himself, who was experimenting with how exhibition formats could be rendered more flexible and open-ended. The discussion led to the question of whether a show could take “scores” or written instructions by artists as a point of departure, which could be interpreted anew each time they were enacted. To test the idea, Obrist invited 13 artists to send instructions, which were then translated into nine different languages and circulated internationally as a book. Within two years, Do It exhibitions were being created all over the world by realizing the artists’ instructions. With every version of the exhibition new instructions were added, so that today more than 300 artists have contributed to the project. Constantly evolving and morphing into different versions of itself, Do It has grown to encompass “Do It (Museum),” “Do It (Home),” “Do It (TV),” “Do It (Seminar)” as well as some “Anti-Do Its”, a “Philosophy Do It” and, most recently, a “UNESCO Children’s Do It.” Nearly 20 years after the initial conversation took place, Do It has been featured in at least 50 different locations worldwide. To mark the twentieth anniversary of this landmark project, this new publication presents the history of this ambitious enterprise and gives new impetus to its future. It includes an archive of artists’ instructions, essays contextualizing Do It, documentation from the history of the exhibition and instructions by 200 artists from all over the world selected by Obrist, among them Carl Andre, Jimmie Durham, Dan Graham, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay and Rosemarie Trockel, including 60 new instructions from Matias Faldbakken, Theaster Gates, Sarah Lucas, David Lynch, Rivane Neuenschwander and Ai Weiwei, among many others.
