IMAGINE SISYPHUS HAPPY
IMAGINE SISYPHUS HAPPY is a composition consisting of two opposing textures, which together represent the contrast of the human experience.
On one hand, existence is a never-ending struggle in an increasingly complex world that ironically man creates himself in order to find clarity and eternal truth. As humanity bends its environment to its liking, the natural material stone can not stay in its natural form but has to adhere to a human-like shape.
In contrast to the hardships, stands the beautiful, happy and content side of life, which is a perpetual part of experience as well and is represented by the softness of the cotton which surrounds the stone but is interrupted by the wire.
The opposite experiences of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in life are so omnipresent that man as a creature of habit, is incapable of experiencing the one without the other.
The title of the artwork is in reference to Albert Camus’ philosophical essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, in which the author describes man’s absurd and futile search for meaning, comparing it to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally repeat the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. Camus claims that despite the struggle, Sisyphus finds freedom and contentment when he accepts the futility of his task and the certainty of his fate – thus concluding that ‘one must imagine Sisyphus happy’.
On one hand, existence is a never-ending struggle in an increasingly complex world that ironically man creates himself in order to find clarity and eternal truth. As humanity bends its environment to its liking, the natural material stone can not stay in its natural form but has to adhere to a human-like shape.
In contrast to the hardships, stands the beautiful, happy and content side of life, which is a perpetual part of experience as well and is represented by the softness of the cotton which surrounds the stone but is interrupted by the wire.
The opposite experiences of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in life are so omnipresent that man as a creature of habit, is incapable of experiencing the one without the other.
The title of the artwork is in reference to Albert Camus’ philosophical essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, in which the author describes man’s absurd and futile search for meaning, comparing it to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally repeat the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. Camus claims that despite the struggle, Sisyphus finds freedom and contentment when he accepts the futility of his task and the certainty of his fate – thus concluding that ‘one must imagine Sisyphus happy’.
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80 x 100 cm
cotton wool, stones, wire on reinforced canvas
2018
cotton wool, stones, wire on reinforced canvas
2018
