New York based artist Oliver Herring is known internationally for his use of experimental techniques as a means to better understand human nature, individual behavior, and interpersonal dynamics. His work has taken on a variety of forms, but since 2000 has focused primarily on brief yet intensive collaborative encounters with volunteer participants. Herring directs and documents these open-ended performances, usually involving a series of improvised actions, which take place in different environments – public and private, cultural and educational – and feature groups of people interacting with each another. The resulting works not only record these impromptu activities, but also reveal the poignancy implicit in humanity when strangers expose their vulnerabilities and embrace trust.

His first solo exhibition in 1993 at the New Museum in New York featured hand-knit Mylar and tape sculptures inspired by the death of playwright and drag performer Ethyl Eichelberger, work which he continued for a decade. Herring’s creative practice later evolved to include videos, performances, drawings, three-dimensional photographic sculptures, and TASK, a simple performance structure that manifests itself as an ongoing series of parties and workshops.