The Life Of An Object After Use
Nicholas Tan’s debut exhibition traces the transformation of familiar forms as they move from fashion and function into art.
Words Mian Centeno
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Tan
September 8, 2026
Installation View
What happens to an object when it no longer serves its purpose?
For Nicholas Tan, the answer is not disappearance but transformation. The founder of AUPEN explores this idea in his debut exhibition at 125 PROJECTS in Mandaluyong, where familiar forms from his design practice take on new lives as art.
The starting point was the Purpose Bag, one of AUPEN’s most recognizable designs. Known for its distinct silhouette, the bag became a point of departure for Tan’s first venture into contemporary art, prompting him to consider what happens when an object loses its original function and takes on a different form.
Artist Nicholas Tan
“Meaning does not disappear when function is removed. It simply changes,” Tan shared.
That idea runs through the collection, where forms associated with fashion are translated across sculpture, fabric, canvas, installations, and text.
The works retain traces of their past while allowing new meanings to emerge, turning utility into memory, symbol, and expression.
Installation View
Beyond finding warmth and instinct in creating the pieces, some pieces grew from moments in Tan’s own life, including one work that became a creative marker of reconciliation after heartbreak.
Here, making becomes less about producing an object and more about processing what has happened—an emotional release found in a physical form.
For Tan, the exhibition marks an expansion of a designer’s practice into sculpture, installation, and text.
Installation View
It also brings together two ways of making that are often kept apart: designing for use and creating for interpretation.
Held from August 18 to 30 at 125 PROJECTS, the exhibition also featured a designer pop-up with exclusive Manila AUPEN bags, limited-edition pieces inspired by the gallery, and The Purpose Bag.
