tara and letha projects

We are a collaborative team whose projects both question and critique contemporary curatorial practice, blurring the line between the roles of curator and conceptual artist. Our collaboration began almost four years ago as co-workers at Artists Space, a non-profit contemporary arts organization in New York City. Though we have lived in different cities in recent years, we continue to work together on projects that have become increasingly ambitious in scope and audience. We consider the physical gap between us and the venue a provocative and stimulating unknown, and as in our other projects, chance and risk are recognized and encouraged players in the game.

A two-part exhibition, shown at Free Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. Majority Rules! (part one) was shown June 23 - July 30th, 2002, and Majority Rules! (part two) was shown October 26th - November 23rd, 2002.
Majority Rules! is a two-part exhibition shown at Free Gallery that offers an innovative curatorial strategy: the audience decides what gets shown in the gallery. The first exhibition featured a slide show of over 350 art pieces by artists from over 25 countries, gathered through an open call for submissions. After viewing the slide program, gallery visitors voted for their top five pieces. The slide show was also available to view online where visitors cast their votes via email.

Once the over 4,000 votes were tallied, the 12 most popular pieces were exhibited in a second exhibition at the Free Gallery in October 2002. Instead of the outcome of one curator's voice, the exhibition is the product of an entire global audience's collective opinion; this is democratic curating by the people, for the people.

Click here for more information and visuals about Majority Rules!.

Shown at Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art, (MASS MoCA) North Adams, Massachusetts. January 26 - May 19, 2002.

(Your Show Here) invites gallery visitors to use computer software to create their own exhibition. Visitors are invited to sit at the computer terminal, browse a databae of twentieth-century art images, choose up to five, write a curatorial statement, and title the show. The digital images are instantly projected at the sacle of the original art pieces, creating a gallery of virtual art works at the click of a button. The exhibition's duration is fleeting, since each show is replaced by that of the next "visiting curator", but a print-out of your selections can be posted on the bulletin board near the gallery entrance.

Ultimately, (Your Show Here) reveals the power of images to tell vastly different stories and disclose conflicting truths, highlighting the subjectivity inherent in arranging, presenting, and finally, viewing works of art. In this case, viewing is not static, passive, and scripted, as it often is in the museum context. Instead, without the active participation of the visitor there would be nothing to view.

Click here for more information and visuals about (Your Show Here).

Shown at Artists Space, New York, NY from March 4th through March 25th, 2000.

Curatorial Proposal: On a random, unannounced day the exhibition coordinators will invite the first three artists who submit their work, unsolicited, either to the Artists Space Curator or to the Artists File, to participate in an exhibition. The only parameters for selection are that the artists cannot be represented by a commercial gallery, and must live in the New York area.

Operating on a level playing field, the artists and exhibition coordinators will collaborate to organize the show. Potential thematic and conceptual threads may emerge from these collaborative discussions, or gridlock could set in, resulting in an exhibition with no central driving force.

The outcome of this experiment will depend primarily on one variable: the interaction among the artists themselves and with the exhibition coordinators. Any number of hypotheses or scenarios may be suggested in advance, but the final outcome is, on some level, left to fate.

Click here for more information and visuals about Curatorial Proposal.

Middlebrook, Jason. "Top Ten", Artforum, February 2003, p. 55.

Powhida, William. "Majority Rules", The Brooklyn Rail, Summer 2002, pp. 8-9.

Paul, Christine. "Collaborative Curatorial Models and Public Curation", Switch Journal, San Jose State University, Issue 17, Feb. 2002

Tejada, Roberta. "Institutional Futures: MASS MoCA", FYI (For Your Information), Quarterly arts journal published by the New York Foundation for the Arts, Summer 2002, pp. 3-4

"Preview U.S. Shorts", Artforum, January 2002, p. 50.

If you have any questions or want more information about Tara and Letha's projects, please email us at letha@lethaprojects.com



			A two-part exhibition, shown at Free Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. Majority Rules! (part one) was shown June 23 - July 30th, 2002, and Majority Rules! (part two) was shown October 26th - November 23rd, 2002. Majority Rules! is a two-part exhibition shown at Free Gallery that offers an innovative curatorial strategy: the audience decides what gets shown in the gallery. The first exhibition featured a slide show of over 350 art pieces by artists from over 25 countries, gathered through an open call for submissions. After viewing the slide program, gallery visitors voted for their top five pieces. The slide show was also available to view online where visitors cast their votes via email. Once the over 4,000 votes were tallied, the 12 most popular pieces were exhibited in a second exhibition at the Free Gallery in October 2002. Instead of the outcome of one curator's voice, the exhibition is the product of an entire global audience's collective opinion; this is democratic curating by the people, for the people. Click here for more information and visuals about Majority Rules!.

			Shown at Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art, (MASS MoCA) North Adams, Massachusetts. January 26 - May 19, 2002. (Your Show Here) invites gallery visitors to use computer software to create their own exhibition. Visitors are invited to sit at the computer terminal, browse a databae of twentieth-century art images, choose up to five, write a curatorial statement, and title the show. The digital images are instantly projected at the sacle of the original art pieces, creating a gallery of virtual art works at the click of a button. The exhibition's duration is fleeting, since each show is replaced by that of the next "visiting curator", but a print-out of your selections can be posted on the bulletin board near the gallery entrance. Ultimately, (Your Show Here) reveals the power of images to tell vastly different stories and disclose conflicting truths, highlighting the subjectivity inherent in arranging, presenting, and finally, viewing works of art. In this case, viewing is not static, passive, and scripted, as it often is in the museum context. Instead, without the active participation of the visitor there would be nothing to view. Click here for more information and visuals about (Your Show Here).

			Shown at Artists Space, New York, NY from March 4th through March 25th, 2000. Curatorial Proposal: On a random, unannounced day the exhibition coordinators will invite the first three artists who submit their work, unsolicited, either to the Artists Space Curator or to the Artists File, to participate in an exhibition. The only parameters for selection are that the artists cannot be represented by a commercial gallery, and must live in the New York area. Operating on a level playing field, the artists and exhibition coordinators will collaborate to organize the show. Potential thematic and conceptual threads may emerge from these collaborative discussions, or gridlock could set in, resulting in an exhibition with no central driving force. The outcome of this experiment will depend primarily on one variable: the interaction among the artists themselves and with the exhibition coordinators. Any number of hypotheses or scenarios may be suggested in advance, but the final outcome is, on some level, left to fate. Click here for more information and visuals about Curatorial Proposal.

			Middlebrook, Jason. "Top Ten", Artforum, February 2003, p. 55. Powhida, William. "Majority Rules", The Brooklyn Rail, Summer 2002, pp. 8-9. Paul, Christine. "Collaborative Curatorial Models and Public Curation", Switch Journal, San Jose State University, Issue 17, Feb. 2002 Tejada, Roberta. "Institutional Futures: MASS MoCA", FYI (For Your Information), Quarterly arts journal published by the New York Foundation for the Arts, Summer 2002, pp. 3-4 "Preview U.S. Shorts", Artforum, January 2002, p. 50.

			If you have any questions or want more information about Tara and Letha's projects, please email us at letha@lethaprojects.com