Is There Merit in Reshowing Works?
Is there merit in reshowing works?
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| Type Kita (2015), a weekend-typography exhibit that took place in the space that is now AltroMondo Creative Space |
I was recently thinking about how we have so many exhibitions happening with short viewing periods: 2 weeks, one weekend, one day, even. That barely gives anyone with a full-time job time to make plans to see a work or an exhibition. Even as a writer, it’s difficult to find the time to travel from one gallery to another.
That is the reality in Metro Manila. It’s a blessing that most galleries don’t charge for admission, and for the most part, I won’t get asked to leave for staying too long to look at a work. (Well, I’ve been asked to leave once, but that’s a story for another time.)
So I have made it a habit to revisit exhibitions more than once to see and experience a work. I ask myself what it is about the work that I like or don’t like at every encounter, when I have the luxury of time.
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| Art House's Lakbay 2026 Project. One of the few shows I've had the luxury of revisiting over several days, despite its short run. Works by Pinky Urmaza. |
I find it novel to attend openings and socialize, maybe meet and speak to the artist, at the cost of not really seeing the artwork. I personally like attending shows on regular days. I get to see how galleries treat the work. Did they leave a video work off, turn off some features to save on electricity? How do they talk about the work when the artist is not around? Do they even bother?
So that leads me to the question, is there merit in reshowing works? I have heard seasoned artists tell me that they make it a point to show only new works at every opportunity. And I agree, there are only so many opportunities afforded to us in this lifetime to show the public what we can do or what we’ve made.
And as a writer, two things come to mind. When I see a work rehung, I’ve quietly normalized that perhaps this work needs to be seen by more people. Over the years of attending art fairs, at one point, it baffled me to see a work at a Singaporean art fair appear again at a big Asian fair, and then maybe once more in the Philippines.
Is the work really that good? Was it hard to sell? Was it part of an edition, or is it going on tour? These are things I failed to really dig into when I encountered that one work. Although I could also chalk it up to a hazy memory, that was possibly over a decade ago. Maybe it’s not like that anymore.
These days, seeing old work rehung is like seeing an old friend. I’ve seen retrospectives and what it does to me as a viewer. Time changes how we look at an old work. Frequency leaves room for speculation of what’s happening in the back end when a relatively new work is hung in different venues, depending on how soon it was last hung.
I recognize that works that take time to install or are part of a traveling exhibit are fine to rehang or restage, because that’s what they were intended for. I would say the same for interactive works; they need to be experienced, and not just seen.
I also want to reflect on my practice as a printmaker. Why am I doing interactive print installations? It does not sell like a traditional painting on canvas or a straightforward print, but I want the public to interact with it beyond the screen. Images circulate endlessly online, but encounters don't.
I don’t have a definitive answer to my question, but I am inclined to rehang a work (not all, not always, and definitely not very often).
At the speed we’re doing exhibitions, and really the lack of time to physically see the work, I think it does make sense to rehang a work.
Through printmaking, I have come to understand that repetition does not diminish originality. Even when the same image is printed again and again, each impression is the result of labor that brings a new original into being. Perhaps seeing a rehung work is no different: although the object remains the same, each encounter has the potential to become an original experience.
So that leads me to the question, is there merit in reshowing works? I have heard seasoned artists tell me that they make it a point to show only new works at every opportunity. And I agree, there are only so many opportunities afforded to us in this lifetime to show the public what we can do or what we’ve made.
And as a writer, two things come to mind. When I see a work rehung, I’ve quietly normalized that perhaps this work needs to be seen by more people. Over the years of attending art fairs, at one point, it baffled me to see a work at a Singaporean art fair appear again at a big Asian fair, and then maybe once more in the Philippines.
Is the work really that good? Was it hard to sell? Was it part of an edition, or is it going on tour? These are things I failed to really dig into when I encountered that one work. Although I could also chalk it up to a hazy memory, that was possibly over a decade ago. Maybe it’s not like that anymore.
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| Robert Indiana's Love at Art Basel Hong Kong 2014. Not the work in question. |
These days, seeing old work rehung is like seeing an old friend. I’ve seen retrospectives and what it does to me as a viewer. Time changes how we look at an old work. Frequency leaves room for speculation of what’s happening in the back end when a relatively new work is hung in different venues, depending on how soon it was last hung.
I recognize that works that take time to install or are part of a traveling exhibit are fine to rehang or restage, because that’s what they were intended for. I would say the same for interactive works; they need to be experienced, and not just seen.
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| Kyre's In Frame We Trust from Art Jog 10. |
I also want to reflect on my practice as a printmaker. Why am I doing interactive print installations? It does not sell like a traditional painting on canvas or a straightforward print, but I want the public to interact with it beyond the screen. Images circulate endlessly online, but encounters don't.
I know that the interactive aspect puts the work at risk of being physically altered. And that change happens within the work as a consequence of being interactive. Proof that it has been encountered. I think it’s fun to think that as the print installation gets rehung, it also collects fingerprints as it moves through different venues.
It speaks of its journey. A lot like how it is to be loved (or in this case, handled) and be changed. I suppose the more a work is exposed to people or allowed to be experienced by the public, something changes.
It speaks of its journey. A lot like how it is to be loved (or in this case, handled) and be changed. I suppose the more a work is exposed to people or allowed to be experienced by the public, something changes.
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| The Marzing Machine Mini at Luzon Art Fair 2025 |
I don’t have a definitive answer to my question, but I am inclined to rehang a work (not all, not always, and definitely not very often).
At the speed we’re doing exhibitions, and really the lack of time to physically see the work, I think it does make sense to rehang a work.
Through printmaking, I have come to understand that repetition does not diminish originality. Even when the same image is printed again and again, each impression is the result of labor that brings a new original into being. Perhaps seeing a rehung work is no different: although the object remains the same, each encounter has the potential to become an original experience.
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