CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Beginning September 30, Austin Peay’ New Gallery will host “do it,” a constantly evolving art exhibition that has toured galleries around the world for 26 years.

Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, do it began as a conversation about how exhibition formats could be more flexible and open-ended. The outcome is a compendium of 400 written instructions by artists, interpreted anew every time they are enacted.

The conceptual art endeavor will comprise artwork by individuals and groups from the community, along with opportunities for visitors to create art in real time. Each “do it” installation is unique to each venue.

The New Gallery has chosen 22 sets of instructions by artists including Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Adrian Piper, Yoko Ono, Alison Knowles, Sol LeWitt, David Lynch and Joan Jonas. The works range from whimsical to abstract, but all are meant to provoke thought and engagement.

Each “do it” exhibition is uniquely site-specific because it engages the local community in a dialogue that responds to a set of instructions. As a result, do it is less concerned with copies, images or reproductions of artworks than with human interpretation. No two iterations of the same instructions are ever identical.

Among these is Yoko Ono’s Wish Peace, where Ono asks you: “Make a wish. Write it down on a piece of paper. Fold it and tie it around a branch of a Wish Tree. Ask your friends to do the same. Keep wishing. Until the branches are covered with wishes.”

A live tree will stand adjacent to the gallery outside the Art+Design building so visitors can wish any time of the day.

Jonas asks visitors to “dance with a large piece of chalk. Mark up the nearest surface and pay attention to the movement of your feet. Music optional.”

“I’m excited to bring this exhibition to Austin Peay, and we’re going to kick off this exhibition with a huge party,” Michael Dickins, director of The New Gallery, said. “Throw a Party is a piece by Amalia Pica with the instructions to have ‘a party of any kind. A party of any size. Make sure you provide your guests with: fine entertainment, drinks, good music, paper confetti. When the party is over, sweep all of the confetti to one side of the space, evenly distributing confetti along the entire length of the wall where it meets the floor.’

“So this is what we’re going to do – throw a huge party on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 5-8 p.m. in The New Gallery. Clarksville’s DJ/VJ duo Black and Jones will provide music and visuals, and there will be food, drinks, dancing and copious amounts of confetti,” Dickins added.

This exhibition will span a 10-week period with “instructionals” executed on a rotating basis. The New Gallery will transform weekly as new pieces are introduced, and guests are encouraged to make multiple visits.

For a weekly schedule of artworks, visit The New Gallery’s page at www.apsu.edu/art-design. All events are free and open to the public. Hours for The New Gallery are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed on weekends and holidays, following the University’s academic calendar.