LONG ISLAND CITY, NY.- 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. The instructions and resulting works are presented outdoors utilizing a site-specific design by the New York-based architecture and design studio of Taryn Christoff and Martin Finio at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. 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 is the first presentation of the exhibition in New York City and the first to be presented completely outdoors in a public art venue. The opening of the exhibition on May 12 coincided with the launch of the publication, do it: the compendium (copublished by Independent Curators International and D.A.P.) from which the instructions presented have been selected.

do it (outside) sparks a critical conversation about the exchange and transformation of ideas by engaging a diverse group of people to create extraordinary works by internationally accomplished artists. At Socrates Sculpture Park, over sixty published artist instructions have been brought into existence by artists, performers, community groups, and the public resulting in installations that range from the explicitly sculptural, to the performative, to the poetic or absurd. Socrates Sculpture Park produced a digital publication to accompany do it (outside) to document the process and participants.

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: John Baldessari, Jerome Bel, Paul-Armand Gette, Joan Jonas, Ilya Kabakov, Alison Knowles, Suzanne Lacy, Lucy Lippard, David Lynch, Betrand Lavier, Paul McCarthy, Yoko Ono, Clifford Owens, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Kazuyo Sejima, Gabriel Sierra, Andreas Slominski, Ai Weiwei, and Franz West among many others.