The Shelf Life of Being

FEBRUARY 16 - MAR 11, 2021

In a time when art production has been critically evaluated, The Shelf Life of Being contemplates on the core of art-making: fabricating and transforming ephemera that holds meaning. Selected objects, personal artifacts, past and unfinished works from the artists’ respective studios, are gathered and installed together to map and establish grounds searching for truth and verity.

The exhibition examines how objects can articulate one’s practice and the contexts they navigate through the changes in time. Arranged like a synthesis of dialogues between the artists and their works, The Shelf Life of Being considers the participation of these articles, many of them residing inside the artists’ studios for years. What becomes of art and its meaning when shelved and placed inside spaces away from the public view? And what becomes of it when its significance is bound by specific time and context? Thus, the exhibition crosses junctures and spaces where meaning and being become essential currencies. 

- Gwen Bautista