Disruptive Annotations

What can we do when …

• a display is old …

• and culturally out of date …

• but we have no resources to refresh it?

Many exhibitions have this problem. One solution is to …

• demolish it …

• and replace it with something new …

• using extensive resources.

Of course, that’s expensive, so the usual approach is …

• do nothing …

• spend nothing.

But in some cases, there is a clever temporary way to refresh a display:

• Don’t change it.

• Add a layer of simple, eye-catching graphics to annotate it. Even stickers, but disruptively visible.

• These must explain how the exhibit is culturally outdated, and use the old display as a historic object to comment on the present.

Here’s the thing:
Updating obsolete displays is expensive. Disruptive annotations just might temporarily solve the problem.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. HOLIDAY BREAK: Because of this year’s mid-week holidays, MtM will take a two-week break after this week, returning to your inbox on Tuesday, 6 Jan 2026. See you then!

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MtM Word of the Day:
Duplex outlet. A power receptacle in a wall, floor or ceiling, that has two sockets. In the US, typically each socket accepts three-prong plugs. (Simplex outlets have just one socket, and quad outlets have four.)