The Sisyphus Project
2017
50- 1lb rocks, two felt packs, 250-foot hill on the Key River.
In her performance, Wren collects and carries fifty – one pound rocks up a hill to a cabin in the woods. At the top of each climb, she drops one rock and heads down to carry up the other forty-nine. Wren does this until the fifty rocks are in a pile at the top of the hill. Unlike Sisyphus, she frees herself of the burden and dives in the river. In Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus essay, he asks the readers to imagine Sisyphus happy because his fate allows him the time to contemplate the absurd. “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” Informed by Camus, Wren finds meditation in labour’s repetitive tasks.
Photo Credits
- Carolyn Wren