A new installation by David Shrigley brings 10 tons of reclaimed ropes to the gallery, offered at £1,000,000, sparking debate on value, art market, and irony.
Why is a pile of ropes by David Shrigley worth £1 million?
The work is titled Exhibition of Old Rope and occupies the polished floors of the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London. It consists of 10 tons of reclaimed ropes arranged as a single, monumental accumulation. The asking price is £1,000,000 (about $1.3 million). On November 14, 2025, the news captured the attention of industry insiders and the public.
The project revives a key idea of contemporary art: the common object, brought into the gallery, becomes art. However, compared to thirty years ago, collectors today show a greater willingness to pay substantial sums for such conceptual gestures.
David Shrigley stages a prank installation
For months, the artist searched for discarded ropes, often with assistants. He cleaned, treated, and assembled each piece, transforming it into a heap deliberately dissonant with the gallery’s elegance. “The work exists because I’m interested in the value people attribute to art, and the idiom gave me an excuse to explore it,” the artist stated.
10 tons of reclaimed material
There are thick cables used for mooring cruise ships and thinner ropes for buoys and lobster pots. Additionally, there are pieces from climbing schools, tree climbers, offshore wind farms, and window cleaning companies. That said, if the rope was old and no longer functional, it was reclaimed and added to the mass.
“I consider £1,000,000 a fair price, partly for the idea and partly because it’s really a lot of rope,” Shrigley said. In circulated photos, signed by Henry Nicholls and Lucy North (PA Images via Getty Images), the artist poses next to his installation, emphasizing its scale and irony.
Environmental critique or linguistic play?
The British tradition of rope-making is ancient: from the hemp and jute of fishermen and the Royal Navy to modern synthetic variants. Moreover, ropes are difficult to recycle and represent a significant environmental issue. However, the work functions primarily as a visual joke on the saying “money for old rope.”
The saying, originating in the early decades of the 19th century, alluded to easy profit from the resale of old ropes. For a linguistic framing, see the lexicographical reference to the English saying. That said, some see in the pile a nod to the UK’s manufacturing erosion or an allusion to imperial legacy.
A 19th-century saying reinterpreted
The choice of material is not neutral: rope evokes labor, navigation, commerce. Overall, the title delivers the joke, and the setup is its literal demonstration. The neon sign in the window, written in deliberately childish handwriting, echoes the stylistic hallmark with which the artist has become known.
Is the story of the found object still relevant?
The gesture dialogues with the genealogy of ready-mades, from Fountain (1917) by Marcel Duchamp onwards. Moreover, in recent decades, the art market has increasingly openly rewarded these exhibition paradoxes, consolidating their status and valuations.
Compared to a generation ago, the audience of collectors is broader and more globalized. This results in greater flexibility in recognizing value in common objects presented in a museum or commercial context.
The gallery challenges conventions
The statement claims that “Exhibition of Old Rope disrupts the conventions of a commercial gallery.” However, the primary convention of a gallery is to sell works, and this installation — proposed by an established and highly publicized artist — will likely find a buyer.
For more details on the artist, the gallery provides the artist’s profile on the Stephen Friedman Gallery. Additionally, the media coverage on November 14, 2025, reported by Richard Whiddington, amplified the commercial resonance of the operation.
Essential data on David Shrigley
| Data | Value |
| Total weight of the ropes | 10 tons |
| Asking price | £1,000,000 (about $1.3 million) |
| Historical reference | Fountain, 1917 |
| Date of the news | November 14, 2025 |
Overall, more than just a simple provocation, the pile of rope measures the market temperature and the value attributed to ideas. In this sense, David Shrigley updates the lexicon of the ready-made with sharp humor and awareness of commercial dynamics.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.
