SERVE://FAIL

SERVE://FAIL
2025
Soft Serve, Trouser, Wood, Spring, Fabric, Mannequin, Shoe and Mechanical Component
120 x 110 x 135 cm

SERVE://FAIL is an extension of 0 - - - 1 - - - 0, reconfigured with a mannequin hand that now holds a melting ice cream.

As soft serve drips steadily onto the surface below, the hand on the shoe-shining box moves rhythmically, each wipe performed with futile intent. Over time, the ice cream accumulates, creating a mess that resists cleaning.

This mechanical loop stages a contradiction between service and sabotage. The work reflects on the absurdity of labour caught in self-defeating cycles: to serve, only to fail. By fusing indulgence with discipline, and pleasure with repetition, SERVE://FAIL interrogates the rituals of maintenance under late capitalism: where work becomes performance, and productivity an unattainable ideal.