Ms. Shottenkirk gathered works from 24 artists in a deliberately random but comprehensive way and asked four curators -- Lynne Cooke (The Dia Art Center), Lia Gangitano (Thread Waxing Space), Robert Storr (The Museum of Modern Art) and Lydia Yee (The Bronx Museum of the Arts) -- to create exhibitions of 10 - 12 works from the larger group. The artists represented are: Terry Adkins, Stavit Allweis, Jennifer Bolande, Gregory Botts, Jessica Diamond, Christian Eckart, Darrel Ellis, Meighan Gale, Maria Elena González, Renee Green, Alex Grey, Perry Hoberman, Samm Kunce, Kerry James Marshall, Lynn McCarty, Michael Miller, Luke Murphy, David Nyzio, David Scher, Collier Schorr, Susan Silas, Haim Steinbach, Jessica Stockholder, Julie Wachtel.

Ms. Shottenkirk explains the impetus for the "cultural experiment" that is Interpreting: "In this emerging world freed from the constraints of formulistic styles, how do we decide? Or to phrase it this way: in a post-style world, how do we see?" Intepreting not only features work that is widely divergent in content, media, aesthetic style and intent, it also reflects the lively range of critical approaches to contemporary art. The show reveals how curators and critics categorize art and organize it into a coherent whole. The display and discussion of those choices encourages visitors to the Gallery to examine their own critical evaluations.

The 24-work exhibition -- or set -- chosen by Ms. Shottenkirk will be hung on the Gallery walls in simple alphabetical order. A computer station loaded with the CD ROM exhibition catalog will allow viewers to access the curators' subsets in various ways. Each curatorial statement can be viewed as a three-minute movie. The 24 works will be displayed in alpha order with pictures of the four curators displayed at the top of the screen. Click on a curator's image and the works he or she chose will be highlighted. Alternately, click on a work of art and the curator(s) who selected it will be illumined and his or her comments about the piece displayed.

LYNNE COOKE, commenting tongue-in-cheek on the arbitrary nature of selecting from works which have nothing in common except the time period in which they were created (the 90s) and the fact they all the artists live in New York City, notes that the names of each of the 11 artists she chose have two 'e's -- a reference to George Perec's avant-garde novel which deliberately avoided the appearance of the 'e' in its entirety. She suggests that her "deliberately inadequate" filter (the repeated 'e') shifts the responsibility for making sense of her selection to the viewer.

LIA GANGITANO explains, "My initial selection of works hovered around various forms of American iconography that were immediately apparent in the works, such as the Afro, JFK, MLK, the road, Mickey Mouse, institutional and domestic decor. These images have specific cultural significance, but I think my attraction to them is also rooted in the time and place in which I grew up."

ROBERT STORR wanted to avoid being didactic. Instead, he decided "to trust those objects which are intrinsically compelling and avoid declaring themselves. If somebody goes out of their way to make something that consists of only a few definite characteristics and everything else is up for grabs, it allows not just for an interpretative exercise on the curator's part, but in fact it allows for the viewer to come in sympathetically or in a fraternal way, puzzled by what they see. And the more puzzled they are, the longer they stay, and the longer they stay the more they'll see, and the more they see in the company of other people the more that will happen even though you're not exactly sure what it is."

Familiarity is LYDIA YEE's organizing principle. Observing that "curatorial projects develop over a long period of time," she sees her selections as "preliminary outlines." Explaining that "by seeing work in exhibitions spaces, galleries, publications, and artists' studios, curators begin to make connections between the work of various artists." Yee selected works around which she would be interested in organizing exhibitions.

Interpreting can also be accessed at the Gallery's web site, www.brooklynX.org/rotunda, where the curators' statements will be as available as text and viewers can create their own Interpreting exhibitions online!

The Interpreting CD-ROM will also be accessible at computer terminals in Manhattan at Thread Waxing Space 476 Broadway (Broome - Grand), 212-966-9520 and at Art Resources Transfer, Inc., 504 West 22nd Street (10th - 11th Avenues), 212-691-5956 . The CD-ROM, an interactive catalog of the show, will be available for purchase.

Artist and writer DENA SHOTTENKIRK is New York Editor for C, a quarterly magazine of international contemporary art published in Canada. She has written on a wide variety of topics ranging from African to contemporary art. The intersection of philosophic and aesthetic concerns is a particular interest. Her articles and reviews have been published in Art in America, Art & Antiques, Artforum, World Art and Arts. She has curated exhibitions for White Columns and A&M Artworks, New York, and she is currently exhibiting her own work at Art Resources Transfer Inc. in Chelsea.

Founded in 1981, the Rotunda Gallery (Janet Riker, Gallery Director; Meridith McNeal, Assistant Director) is a project of the not-for-profit BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture, Inc. (Nanette Rainone, President). The Gallery's slide registry includes the work of over 850 Brooklyn-affiliated artists. Searchable by primary media, specific materials, stylistic approach, and scale, it is used extensively to plan Gallery exhibitions and is consulted regularly by curators, writers, private dealers, and other art professionals. The Gallery's education program brings art to thousands of children from pre-kindergarten through high school. Located in Brooklyn Heights, just over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Gallery is also easily accessible by public transportation. It is a short walk from the 2, 3; 4, 5; M; N or R trains at the Court Street/Borough Hall station; or the A, C trains at High Street.