An essay on recent work by Hardeep Pandahl. The essay accompanied Pandahl's exhibition "A Joyous Thing with Maggots at the Centre" at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, 26 Sept – 23 Nov 2014. The essay suggested that Pandahl's work might be understood as engaged in the acts of spoiling and desecration in order to excavate for unpalatable truths. The output was supplemented by a public discussion between the writer and the artist in the gallery on October 18, 2014.