Useful Uselessness

The seed of this project is the Daoist parable ‘The Useless Tree’, in which carpenter Shih comes upon a huge old tree that has grown so tall and reaches so wide to cast shade beneath it. The carpenter says the tree is useless; made into a boat it would sink, a door it would break, a coffin it would rot. The tree comes to Shih in a dream that night saying that it is because the tree cannot be used for human purposes that it has been able to grow so vast and live so long. Other trees more suited for human functions are exploited and torn down before being able to grow beyond what is expected of them. In this project, I am extending this process both to the land and natural world as a whole, but also to humans and to human lives and the objects which can hold place for this. What happens when we are allowed to grow/transform/age/extend/reach beyond what is considered functional or expected of us within current socio-politicial structures, hierarchies, and roles? What might that look like in our homes, lives, and bodies? To imagine ourselves and the world around us as in process of transforming is to become un-categorizable, un-useable. It is to become unknowable, intangible, and fiercely revolutionary. It is a joy and a freedom to be un-useful to those who want to use.

I began developing this project during my residency at Jelly, Reading in August 2025, predominantly in installation, sculpture, and performance