During an early professional experience writing about artworks for a large public art museum, I had access to files containing fascinating correspondence between artists and the museum. I found diagrams, instructions, and even negotiations about how the objects should be displayed and treated over time, and about whether and how members of the public should be permitted to engage with the objects in some way. I could see that artists were very intentional in articulating rules for their works, even in the face of resistance from the museum, because these rules allowed them to construct a specific kind of experience for the audience and thereby convey expressive content. I went on to study the archives of several institutions and interviewed artists, curators, and conservators about how contemporary artworks are collected, conserved, and displayed. I was able to confirm that artworks involving custom rules are widespread, and museums have developed practices to ensure that they gather enough information about the rules. Sometimes these rules challenge the museum’s standard practices. When the Philadelphia Museum of Art decided to acquire Zoe Leonard’s work Strange Fruit, she initially participated in seeking a conservation strategy for the fruit peels. But eventually she realized that suspending natural processes would interfere with meanings related to mortality and grief. She indicated that the objects should be allowed to deteriorate, subverting the usual practice of conservation. Museums continue to grapple with how to accommodate works with challenging rules in their institutional frameworks, and this sometimes highlights power structures – and struggles – in the art world and beyond. This book is responsive to the real practices and experiences of artists and museum professionals. It also delves into some real-world complications: what if the communications from the artist aren’t easy to interpret, or change over time? How can we pin down the rules if they seem to be slippery, in flux? And what should we say about situations where museums or audience members decide to violate the rules?