Electric Sisyphus

installation

Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to eternal, futile labour: pushing a boulder up a mountain, over and over again. In this deliberate repetition there is also a form of resistance, and even of happiness. I translated this into a work in which a machine takes over the Sisyphean task, as a metaphor for the human being who increasingly deploys tools in the struggle for existence. Question is whether mechanical repetition is more meaningful than human struggle, and where in that process there is still room for happiness.

Electric Sisyphus (2026)
electric conveyor belt, rocks, 4 x 0,5 x 1,5 m

Onder het plaveisel, het strand (a Vloed exhibition)
Curator: Anika van de Wijngaard
Leiden Art Hub