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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment

Do It in Manchester: where visitors take orders from artists – in pictures

Do It 2013: Adrian Piper, The Humming Room
Adrian Piper, The Humming Room (2012)
Piper's project is simple: in order to enter a special room, you must hum a tune. Any tune will do
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Andreas Slominski
Andreas Slominski (2001)
Slominski's instruction is also short and sweet: 'Tip a bicycle seat so that the front points upwards and use the seat to squeeze lemons'
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei's CCTV Spray (2012)
'Do you feel uncomfortable, confused, disgusted, or even irate because of a surveillance camera fixed at the wrong place? To block its view, spray-painting would be the best choice.' The artist advises visitors on how to make their own local surveillance camera blocker – using a corkscrew and a long stick
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Carsten Holler, homage to Emmett Williams
Carsten Holler's Homage to Emmett Williams (2013)
Holler reworks Williams' vending machine that takes tokens (piled next to the machine), then dispenses beer cans to visitors. Empties must be left in the corner of the gallery to stack up over the weeks
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Gilbert and George. Ten Commandments for Gilbert and George (1995)
Gilbert & George's Ten Commandments for Gilbert & George (1995)
For their instruction, the daring duo encourage visitors to follow their own commandments, including: thou shalt fight conformism, thou shalt make use of sex, and thou shalt reinvent life
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Konstatin Grcic
Konstatin Grcic's Paramount: Architecture for Toy Poodle (2012)
Grcic's blueprint comes with the caveat – 'This is a construction project and is not advisable for children under 12.' Poodle petting is, however, actively encouraged for all ages
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Theaster Gates, how to catch the Holy Ghost
Theaster Gates' How to Catch the Holy Ghost OR Get Arrested in a Shopping Mall (2012)
Gates' instruction involves one friend, two old church hymnals, three rocks, one amp – and a willingness to open your heart and feel the effects of 'spiritual impartation' in a very public place
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Ilya Kabakov's The White Cube, 1991
Ilya Kabakov's The White Cube, 1991
For Kabakov's installation, a wooden cube is placed in an exhibition space. Visitors climb the ladder on either side to try and see what's inside the cube – though all they find inside is a tiny handwritten note that's so small it's impossible to read. Kabakov says of her Do It project: 'The enigmatic message is almost within our grasp, we can see it, but we cannot reach it, despite all our efforts'
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Lawrence Weiner, homage to John Chamberlain
Lawrence Weiner's Homage to John Chamberlain (2013)
Weiner's recreation of Chamberlain's instruction from 2004, which stipulates that an assortment of household items such as bedsheets and towels and doilies, plus clothes from slips to Hawaiian shirts, be arranged by hand or foot in a room measuring 20ft by 25ft, by each visitor. A camera takes an image of the room every 10 seconds. No staples or glue allowed
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Alison Knowles, Homage to each red thing, 1996
Alison Knowles, Homage to Each Red Thing (1996)
The artist has re-created her 1996 instruction, which asks that the exhibition floor be divided up into squares – and that a red object, from a shoe to a piece of fruit, be placed in each square until the space is covered
Photograph: Joel Fildes
Do It 2013: Alison Knowles, Homage to each red thing, 1996
Closeup of Alison Knowles' Homage to Each Red Thing Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Do It 2013: Yoko Ono's Wish Piece, 1996
Yoko Ono's Wish Piece (1996)
Ono's wish-based project is as follows: Make a wish. Write it down on a piece of paper. Fold it and tie it around the branch of a Wish Tree. Ask your friends to do the same. Keep wishing. Until the branches are covered with wishes
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Do It 2013: Yoko Ono's Wish Piece, 1996
Closeup of Yoko Ono's Wish Piece (1996) Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
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