Christophe Muylaert

The work consists of a vintage ironing tool whose handle has been cast in transparent epoxy resin. Through this intervention the object is physically disabled: the handle remains visible and appears graspable, yet it can no longer be held or used. The tool thereby loses its functional status and shifts from utilitarian object to contemplative artefact.

The gesture refers to Martin Heidegger’s distinction between Zuhandenheit (ready-to-hand) and Vorhandenheit (present-at-hand). Originally absorbed in use and action, the iron is withdrawn from any practical relation. It no longer operates as an instrument but appears as a thing — isolated, visible, and unavailable.

Placed on a 3D-printed pedestal and enclosed within a plexiglass vitrine, the object is institutionally reframed. The display reinforces its transformation from tool to artefact and emphasizes the passage from use to observation. The work examines how functionality, meaning, and truth shift once an object is removed from its context of action.