Art is made within the spaces of limitation. Whether it is the technical aspects of materials or the requests of patrons or the desire to visualise an intangible feeling, art is a form of problem solving. This lecture looks at the art of instructions and how, within the limits of instructions either specific or open-ended, artists can produce vastly different artworks. First, we’ll look at examples of historic artists and how they responded to the social and intellectual rules of their time, including Byzantine icons, China’s Song Dynasty and France’s Academy. We’ll then explore how modern and contemporary artists often use instructions to ‘unlearn’ traditional power systems, from the Surrealists to artists like Yoko Ono, John Cage and Sol Lewitt. The goal is to understand how instructions and regulations can actually become spaces for the freedom of expression.