magnificent futility

2026, Oil on Italian Linen, 86.3 x 86.3cm

Magnificent Futility asks whether an object needs to function to matter. When utility collapses, the object does not become worthless. Form remains. As does beauty. And then there is the question of authorship. Value is a collectively assigned social contract, and the loss of function does not necessarily mean the loss of worth.

The work draws on the familiar idea of the chocolate teapot: an object rendered absurd by its inability to perform its stated purpose. Yet futility does not erase presence or desire. Once function disappears, other forms of worth become easier to see, including those assigned through craftsmanship, authorship and the simple act of looking.

Within the broader series, value is again separated from the qualities assumed to sustain it. In the companion work All That Glitters, a luxury object also loses its practical use, though its status may remain intact. Here, the question is quieter: whether an object can cease to be useful and still matter, and whether beauty alone can sustain value.