A guide

Algorithmic Art, Conceptual Art

Hatim Benhsain, Liyan Ibrahim, Suzan Sadek
"In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art." Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, Art Forum, 1967

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A set of instructions critiquing the typical “guide” on how to live. Given that an algorithm is a set of instructions executed mechanically, our instructions allude to this nature by giving very literal, contradictory step by step set of instructions. The instructions highlight the absurdity and ridicule the idea of universal guides on how to live. Each page or ‘guide’ resembles a pillar in which the quality of life can be improved in. We took inspiration from Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit, a book containing several instructions ranging from bizarre to impossible for performance pieces. Each page is handwritten in a way that matches the intention of the message, and hung on a wall to assert the routine in the reader’s life. The writing also varies in handwriting, layout, thickness of pen, and doodles on the page. One of the pages “Get in Shape Piece,” was crumpled, and ripped on, to resemble the frustration that the reader may have felt when trying to follow.