The Endless Fiction of Past, Present, and Data: Seth Price’s “Redistribution” at Sadie Coles HQ

“Where Does Art Really Come From?”

We begin with the simple yet provocative question standing at the center of the exhibition, carrying its entire conceptual weight: “Where does art really come from? Nobody knows.” Originally conceived nearly twenty years ago as a slide lecture given by Price at the Guggenheim Museum, Redistribution is now before us in its eleventh version. The fact that the dates in the work’s title (2007–2026) flow backward from the present to the past is certainly no coincidence. This project functions like a living organism that never reaches a final conclusion; with each new edition, it ruthlessly dismantles the previous one, reassembling and constantly updating itself. This presentation at Sadie Coles HQ allows this massive single-channel video to meet the audience as an independent spatial installation for the first time.

A Stream of Consciousness from Autobiography to Global Trauma

The images projected on the screen offer a massive cinematographic essay that completely dissolves the boundaries between documentary and fiction, performance and personal diary. Price uses the recordings of his original lecture as raw material, building upon them with new edits, voice-overs, and a dizzying array of archival footage.

The work’s intentional rejection of narrative or compositional constraints pulls the viewer into a free fall. Within the frame lies a vast cultural memory ranging from Paleolithic cave paintings to Renaissance allegories, and from consumer culture fashion trends to the plastics industry, spanning events from 9/11 to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evolution of technology is meticulously traced from early computer graphics to the rise of the internet. However, what struck me most in the latest editions are the intimate, autobiographical moments seeping through this massive global narrative. The artist’s solitary moments in his woodland home or personal videos from his early youth in New York add an unexpected human warmth to this digital chaos.

The Plasticity of Time and Meaning

The video installation in this exhibition has long surpassed the function of art as a final product. As Price navigates his own expanding archive alongside the viewer, he melts creative authority in art history and the anxieties of ordinary daily life into the same pot. The chain of new meanings created by repetition and change offers the viewer a staggering philosophical proposition regarding the nature of time: past, present, and future are equally fluid, open to being renewed and rewritten at any moment.

If you are in London right now, you must act fast to witness this fascinating process of the redistribution of knowledge and art. Today is May 5, and there are only a few days left before the exhibition closes.

Save the Date:

• Venue: Sadie Coles HQ (Kingly Street, London)
• Exhibition Dates: March 17 – May 16, 2026 (Final Days)
• Key Themes: Digital archives, the evolution of media, and the fluidity of time.