Vanitax exhibits a combination of modern examples of consumerism and vanitas symbolism. Every item has symbolic meanings from the futility of life’s pleasures and the inevitability of death (memento mori). The project modernises the 17th-century oil paintings' meanings through modern-day equivalents of certain items either replacing or being combined with the originals. The still-life paintings portrayed wealth and that in the grand scheme of life, these pleasures are meaningless when compared to the certainty of death. Vanitas reminded viewers of their mortality and provided moral lessons.