Artist Tara Donovan presents new sculpture in "Stratagems" at Pace Gallery in New York that stacks hundreds of thousands of used CDs into spiraling translucent bliss.

For over 2 decades, artist Tara Donovan has transformed everyday objects in her work ? from plastic straws, Styrofoam cups, and toothpicks ? creating ethereal visual magic through highly-precise unexpected accumulations.  Her latest exhibition Stratagems on view at Pace Gallery in New York now, debuts 11 new towering sculptures that are created from thousands of used CDs.
Installation view of ‘Tara Donovan: Stratagems’ at Pace Gallery, NY. \ Photo: Courtesy Pace Gallery
Presented on the 7th floor of Pace Gallery that features massive windows that look out onto the skyscrapers of Hudson Yards, Donovan?s CD stacks rise 7-10 feet tall, creating their own futuristic city as they spiral like DNA-helixes or zig-zag like overlapping accordion crystals. Each is made from thousands of used CD-ROM discs that hold all sorts of data ? movies, music, games, or software trials, all acquired by Donovan from eBay or private individuals selling unwanted discs in extreme bulk. Those CDs were sorted by color (green and a goldish sliver), then glued in units of 2 CDs ? bonded face-to-face to hide the label. Tara Donovan “Stratagem XII” 2024, © Tara Donovan, courtesy Pace Gallery
Tara Donovan “Stratagem XII” 2024, (detail), © Tara Donovan, courtesy Pace Gallery
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