Damian Conway may be an example of a virtuoso of the form. His diversionary works[1] have no practical value, but explore the corners of what can be done with Perl, and do so in a way that delights, inspires, and encourages reflection. It's his mastery of the tool that allows him to express his cleverness and wit as art.

HAKMEM contains many other examples of original thought around the pulchritudinous value of code in itself, and not just via its result.

[1] For example, Acme::Bleach and Lingua::Romana::Perligata, found on http://search.cpan.org/~dconway/