Oliver Herring: TASK

TASK documents a burgeoning phenomenon begun in 2002 by artist Oliver Herring. Herring developed TASK as a self-generating, improvisational gathering in which a community engages in a collaborative art-making event. Using cardboard, tape, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners, markers and other materials, participants follow a simple set of rules: write a task for someone to perform, then randomly select a task to perform yourself (e.g. “Use cardboard mailing tubes to make a symphony;” “Form a conga line;” “Create a crime scene” ). The cycle continues, task building upon task, as people share new ways to develop ideas and solve problems. This volume includes a detailed history of TASK by Herring; extensive photo-documentation of TASK parties and events in the U.S., Canada, England, France and Japan; statements by participants; instructions on how to organize a TASK party; and essays by curators/ organizers Ian Berry, Kendra Paitz and Kristen Hileman.

TASK documents a burgeoning phenomenon begun in 2002 by artist Oliver Herring. Herring developed TASK as a self-generating, improvisational gathering in which a community engages in a collaborative art-making event. Using cardboard, tape, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners, markers and other materials, participants follow a simple set of rules: write a task for someone to perform, then randomly select a task to perform yourself (e.g. “Use cardboard mailing tubes to make a symphony;” “Form a conga line;” “Create a crime scene” ). The cycle continues, task building upon task, as people share new ways to develop ideas and solve problems. This volume includes a detailed history of TASK by Herring; extensive photo-documentation of TASK parties and events in the U.S., Canada, England, France and Japan; statements by participants; instructions on how to organize a TASK party; and essays by curators/ organizers Ian Berry, Kendra Paitz and Kristen Hileman.