MANUAL CC. Instructions for beginners and advanced players

Manual CC is an exhibition consisting of 'instructions for beginners and advanced' sent in by artists on specially prepared pieces of cardboard. The viewers themselves give life to the artists' ideas. These usually initiate a kind of game - with oneself, other viewers, passer-bys, etc. - and typically have an open ending and uncertain result. Over 90 international artists have participated in this project; this number and the number of project users are constantly increasing.

Manual CC presents an alternative approach to the art market economy. All of the artworks and the entire project itself are available under the Creative Commons license, allowing the project to be replicated in any configuration. Manual CC draws on the conceptualist tradition, both on the level of ideas, and in relation to the form of tools used. One of the points of reference is the work by Zbigniew Gostomski entitled It Begins in Wrocław, created during the Wrocław 70 symposium, considered the manifestation of Polish conceptualism. The project assumed placement of identical elements in the art space and could expand infinitely.

Manual CC's key references include works by such artists as John Cage and the Fluxus movement, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Brian Eno (e.g. Oblique Strategies) or NET - a network created by Jarosław Kozłowski and Andrzej Kostołowski. NET's manifest, sent out by its creators to artists, was meant to inspire others to partake in a network structure lacking coordination and a central point. A crucial influence for Manual CC was the exhibition organized in 1970 by Pierre Restany - Art Concept from Europe - which consisted entirely of artworks sent in by post or reconstructed using instruction also given via mail. Another tradition to which Manual CC may pertain is the Open Form concept, in which Oskar Hansen included the idea of 'surrounding art', where the average man constitutes the creative motor.

The Manual CC project represents an effort to reinstate art's communicative dimension. This form of art must not be incomprehensible, inaccessible or carry dangerous content, and should primarily serve viewers to engage their active participation.

Manual CC was initiated by a group of 12 young female curators from Poland, and was the culmination of a curator's seminar forming part of the Curator Studies course at Kraków's Jagiellonian University.

Artists: 4!, Mark Aerial Waller, Paweł Althamer, Vasil Artamonov & Alexey Klyukov, Anatka Barczewska, Zbyněk Baladrán, Bas van Beek, Anca Benera, Sanford Biggers, Tomek Bierkowski, Rahim Blak, Agnieszka Brzeżańska & Marek Raczkowski, Karin Bühler, Yane Calovski, Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkáčová, Martin Conrads, Holly Crawford, Agnieszka Chojnacka, Hubert Czerepok, Jiří David, Oskar Dawicki, Marjan Denkov, Christoph Draeger, Stanisław Dróżdż, Drumlander/ Louis Blackburn & Angelo Vermeulen, Elshopo, Pola Dwurnik, Marcius Galan, Rainer Ganahl, Haimo Ganz, Ingo Gerken, Simon Goldin & Jakob Senneby, Leszek Golec & Tatiana Czekalska, Ryszard Górecki, Henry Grahn, Marek Glinkowski, Grupa Whitney Houston: Paulina Ołowska & Bartek Przybył & Aleksander Wawrzyniak, Björn Hegardt, Daniel Heer, Małgorzata Jabłońska & Piotr Szewczyk, Jesper Jargil, Łukasz Jastrubczak, Olivier Kosta - Thefaine, Jiří Kovanda, Elżbieta Krajewska, Anna Krenz, Igor Krenz, Paweł Kruk, Wojtek Kucharczyk, kuda.org, Agnieszka Kurant, Robert Kuśmirowski, Dominik Lang, Maciej Landsberg, Jan Löchte, Sara MacKillop, Anna Mandoki, Katharina Marszewski, Christian Mayer & Yves Mettler, Asier Mendizabal, Nuria Montiel, Bartek Mucha, Jacek Niegoda, Anna Niesterowicz, Nick Oberthaler & Julien Diehn, Parfyme, Dan Perjovschi, Ben Petersen, Robert Rumas, Wilhelm Sasnal, Jadwiga Sawicka, Jochen Schmith, Maciej Sieńczyk, Janek Simon, Jiří Skála, Kateřína Šedá, Škart, Bruno Steiner, Rudolf Steiner, Kamen Stoyanov & Vasilena Gankovska, Paweł Susid, Superflex, Tomáš Svoboda, Grzegorz Sztwiertnia, Tomáš Vaněk, Joanna Warsza, Olav Westphalen, Franziska Wicke, Adam Witkowski, Julita Wójcik, Honza Zamojski, Florian Zeyfang.

Exhibition opening: 25 April; on view through 18 May 2008. Curators: Sebastian Cichocki, Marianna Dobkowska, Magdalena Lipska

MANUAL CC. Instructions for beginners and advanced players
Kuratoren: Sebastian Cichocki, Marianna Dobkowska, Magdalena Lipska

Künstler: 4! Group , Mark Aerial Waller, Pawel Althamer, Vasil Artamonov & Alexey Klyukov, Anatka Barczewska, Zbynek Baladran, Kuba Bakowski, Bas van Beek, Anca Benera, Sarmen Beglarian, Sanford Biggers, Tomek Bierkowski, Rahim Blak, Agnieszka Brzezanska & Marek Raczkowski, Karin Bühler, Yane Calovski, Martin Conrads, Holly Crawford, Agnieszka Chojnacka, Hubert Czerepok, Jiri David, Oskar Dawicki, Marjan Denkov, Christoph Draeger, Stanislaw Drozdz, Drumlander / Louis Blackburn & Angelo Vermeulen, Elshopo, Pola Dwurnik, Samuel Francois, Marcius Galan, Rainer Ganahl, Haimo Ganz, Ingo Gerken, Goldin + Senneby , Leszek Golec & Tatiana Czekalska, Ryszard Gorecki, Henry Grahn, Marek Glinkowski, Grupa Whitney Houston: Paulina Olowska & Bartek Przybyl & Aleksander Wawrzyniak, Malgorzata Jablonska & Piotr Szewczyk, Jesper Jargil, Lukasz Jastrubczak, Olivier Kosta –Thefaine, Jiri Kovanda, Justyna Koeke, Elzbieta Krajewska, Anna Krenz, Igor Krenz, Pawel Kruk, Wojtek Kucharczyk, kuda.org , Agnieszka Kurant, Piotr Kurka, Robert Kusmirowski, Dominik Lang, Maciej Landsberg, Jan Löchte, Sara MacKillop, Agnieszka Malecka, Anna Mandoki, Katarzyna Marszewski, Christian Mayer & Yves Mettler, Asier Mendizabal, Mirzlekid, Nuria Montiel, Bartek Mucha, Jacek Niegoda, Anna Niesterowicz, Txema Novelo, Nick Oberthaler & Julien Diehn, Parfyme , Dan Perjovschi, Ben Petersen, Robert Rumas, PGR ART , Raketa , Wilhelm Sasnal, Jadwiga Sawicka, Jochen Schmith, Maciej Sienczyk, Janek Simon, Jiri Skala, Katerina Seda, Skart Group , Bruno Steiner, Rudolf Steiner, Kamen Stoyanov & Vasilena Gankovska, Pawel Susid, Superflex , Tomas Svoboda, Grzegorz Sztwiertnia, Lucia Tkacova & Anetta Mona Chisa, Karl Tuikkanen, Tomssa, Tomas Vanek, Joanna Warsza, Olav Westphalen, Franziska Wicke, Adam Witkowski, Julita Wojcik, Patryk Zakrocki, Honza Zamojski, Grzegorz Zgraja, Florian Zeyfang.