This coming Friday, September 27th, the Gallery Engagement Team (also known as G.E.T.) is hosting its very first event of the semester. The event, entitled “GET the pARTy started”, is from 12-1 pm at the Samek and includes free cupcakes, confetti, and of course music from the talented DJ Doug Bogan. In case you are unfamiliar with the Samek Art Gallery, this on- campus gallery is located on the 3rd floor of the LC.
Whats the occasion? “GET the pARTy started!” not only is the reception for the newest exhibition at the Samek but it is literally part of the exhibition.
So how does this fit in to the exhibition? The newest exhibition “Do It” is quite unique to any other because of its format. “Do It” is an exhibition curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist that encourages a dialogue between art, a set of rules, and the local art community. Basically, this curator in the 1990s collaborated with the contemporary artists of his time to create an exhibition that would shatter all expectations of what an exhibition could or should be. Hans Ulrich Obrist and these artists were primarily interested in the potential to generate new versions of an exhibition and even more so, to encourage human interaction within the art space.
Simply, “Do It” is a book of rules that are then executed by the local museum. These rules have specific instructions and therefore, the bodies of art are produced with more or less the same general characteristics. The rules however are open to interpretation and therefore the aesthetic varies from one show to the next. This exhibition has reached all corners of the world and has been translated into 9 languages. Opening on September 23rd, this exhibit finally makes its debut in Lewisburg, PA. “Do It” is exciting not only because of its history and impact in the contemporary art world, but it also allows the atypical person to become an artist. Since the local community, not a specific artist, executes the instructions in the gallery space, “Do It” simultaneously forces the person to rethink the definition of an artist.
Furthermore, the exhibition is on going. This means that the work you see on display this opening week is not the finished display. Rather, pieces of art are showcased throughout the installation of Samek’s version of “Do It”. Want to be apart of this? Each Friday, from 12-1 pm, a new piece of art will be performed and added to the exhibition. The first Friday is GET’s participation in the exhibition.
GET’s participation is no different from any other person’s contribution; club members must follow a set of these restrictions. These instructions were created by Amalia Pica: “To Throw a Party“; these include:
A party of any kind or size
it must provide: food, drinks, good music, paper confetti
after the party, sweep the confetti to one wall & evenly distribute the confetti alongside the length of that wall.
Sounds fun? Of course it does! So come on up to the 3rd floor of the LC to be apart of GET’s fun engagement with the exhibition. Go check out who else has contributed to this exhibition as well as make your personal interaction with the art. Contribute to this unique experience by going to this party and be apart of Samek’s version of this infamous exhibition. Cupcakes and all, this is something you do not want to miss!