Det planlegges en kunstbiennale i Oslo, og forprosjektet undersøker kunstens rolle i og for det offentlige rom. Boka samler opp 38 tekster av kunstnere, publisert i løpet av de siste 80 åra, 19 av dem spesielt bestilt til dette forprosjektet. Tekstene er oversatt til engelsk, men også trykket opp bakerst i boka på sitt originalspråk. I tillegg inneholder boka en redigert transkripsjon av et symposium arrangert av Oslo Pilot høsten 2016, kalt "The Giver, the Guest, and the Ghost: The Presence of Art in Public Realms", også på engelsk.

Forlagets tekst: To make art in and for the public domain today is to engage with the precariousness that both defines and threatens our experience of it. OSLO PILOT (2015–17)—a project investigating the role of art in and for the public space—laying the groundwork for Oslo Biennial First Edition brings together 38 previously published texts spanning the past 80 years and 19 commissioned texts exploring art in public spaces and spheres. It also includes an edited transcript of the symposium, organized by OSLO PILOT in the fall of 2016, “The Giver, the Guest, and Ghost: The Presence of Art in Public Realms.” The publication embodies the idea of the city as a prerequisite and basis for work, and focuses on the conditions of public space as a field where many agencies, identities, and interests meet and are made visible.