Mona Hatoum, T42, 1993

The London-based Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum uses “

simple transformative gestures” (in the words of the ICA) to trigger multiple readings of her uncanny artworks, which span video and performance work and sculpture. This piece, titled T42, is no exception. On one level it appears to poke gentle fun at the formal ceremony of tea drinking—the conjoined vessel would require intense concentration and intimate collaboration in order for two people to drink from it. In a political light, meanwhile, it could be seen as a metaphor for egalitarianism, or as a means of exacerbating the inevitable greed that ensues among humans when resources are limited. Tea for thought, on every level.