Cycle
Live Art Ritual (Behind the Scenes)
Concept
The Myth of Sisyphus
Jon Sasaki, Ladder Climb, 2006.
Artist Statement
This live art ritual is a reflection on the cyclical nature of our existence, the mundane and the way that we cope and try to make sense of the seemingly absurd, endless repetition of monotonous tasks.
The ritual also touches on the Sisyphean experience of being unhoused, where the day-to-day struggle to find food and shelter and basic needs met is coupled with the seemingly fruitless attempts to escape the situation.
For the symbolism represented in our video, there is a cycle of laundry that goes around in a circle; the fountain where we are located in the video is also in the shape of a circle. Sometimes it is difficult to identify when the cycle started and when the cycle ended.
This live art ritual was inspired by Albert Camus’ philosophical text “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Sisyphus was a “cunning king of Ephyra in Greek mythology”(Brittanica, 2020). Sisyphus was a mischievous figure who loved to antagonize the gods. Because of his antics, Sisyphus was banished to the underworld by Zeus and was condemned to push a boulder up a mountain for all eternity. This futile punishment is absurd to the point that it would drive a person to insanity.
Camus talks extensively about absurdity throughout his novel and suggests that readers picture Sisyphus as happy, pushing the boulder up the mountain (Camus 119-123). In our lives, certain tasks and commitments can feel absurd and futile, but the absurdity is a part of the condition of being human. There are two perspectives in the scenario of somebody caught at the crossroads of the absurd. The first person has accepted the absurd reality they have found themselves in and continues to live their life to the fullest. The second person rejects any notion of purpose and believes that their life experience is a series of insufferable events. The literal cycle of doing laundry goes as far as: washing, rinsing and drying.Underneath that surface remains the cycle-repeating task, one day after the other.
Are you caught in a cycle of suffering? Or, is there a glimmer of light that shines through the tinted glass?
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. Translated by Justin O’Brien, Penguin Classics, 2000.
Script:
Not the life I asked for, but the life I feel the most present in.
Not the life I asked for, I am a prisoner to this cycle.
I wring, fold, stack and repeat this process. I long, pretend and feel so deeply. I repeat this process.
I scrub, wring, my body grows weary. I have no choice but to continue.
The process, I do not find tedious or time-consuming, but rather I see it as a time to reflect on the clothing that formulates my existence.
Maybe if I had made do with fewer clothes, been more careful not to soil them, my load would not carry this much weight.
Some may label this as absurd, but what isn’t?
These people passing by are free to come and go, to do as they please. I hear joy, it taunts me.
I hear soft voices echoing in the background, behind the fountain of love that encompasses us every day.
She doesn’t want to participate in my joy, but I still keep trying regardless.
A cycle we are caught in, I cycle, I have become content with
I see he is content, but how could he be? We are stuck. I cannot stop.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Moments of Magic
Symposium Proposal
Sound-Object: We Speak For the Trees
Truffula Trees
Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random House, 1971, 16.
Artist Statement
For my sound object, I re-created a Truffula Tree from Dr. Seuss’ book The Lorax. As a child, I recall reading Dr. Seuss books in elementary school and my mother reading them to me at home. Reading the book as an adult, I now understand that the story of The Lorax is not just a children’s book; it is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of harming the environment and the creatures that inhabit it.[1] Trees are an integral part of nature and our survival in more ways than one. Trees also resonate with humans on a spiritual level due to the way they provide for us and the ways we provide for them. In the story, The Lorax states, “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”[2] In essence, everyone on this planet has a responsibility to speak for the trees. Whenever we choose to protect the forests instead of chopping them down, we should also plant a seed so more trees can grow. People need to continue to spread awareness about climate change and appreciate the beauty of the plants that coexist alongside us. Speaking for the trees is a moral code established to protect our relationships with them. Every time we break this code, we hurt ourselves and our relationship with the trees. They sustain our breath, and we prolong their existence by speaking for them.
My process for this project was more technical than intuitive. I used a cardboard tube for the trunk of the tree, a reusable shopping bag, white fur strips, and hot glue to connect each piece. The tube was relatively easy to paint, but the hot glue required more thought to ensure the tree remained intact and accurately matched the illustrations from The Lorax. For the sound element of my object, I attached a microphone to the head of the tree that threaded through the trunk down to a transmitter taped to the bottom of the base. I plugged in an amplifier into my laptop to add reverb from GarageBand. The voices and background sound was then outputted through two speakers that rested near the tree. The reasoning for adding reverb was to make the presentation feel surreal. Almost as though you were transported to Dr. Seuss’ whimsical world.
[1] Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random House, 1971, 26.
[2] Seuss, 65.
Process
Presentation
Notes
Symposium Bibliography
FORM 32-B
Process
Script
Form 32-B Artist Statement
My speculative video Form 32-B imagines a future where superhumans and humans co-exist in a world that is similar to the one we currently live in. In this video, I am playing a character named Martin. Martin is an insurance agent navigating a claim with a woman whose car was severely damaged by a kinetic energy beam due to a superhuman battle that occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. I wanted to step away from sci-fi and post-apocalyptic visuals for my video and instead, show a perspective where the human is the primary focus rather than the superhuman. In the superhero genre, we rarely see stories where the human is the main character and must overcome supernatural challenges separate from the hero.
I went for a satirical approach for the dialogue in this video because superhero narratives typically adopt a serious tone, leaving little room for humour. Of course, there is the exception of movies like Deadpool and some of the cheesy Marvel and DC movie jokes. Humour, in my instance, creates a lighthearted and grounded atmosphere where the audience does not need to feel the existential dread of the world ending or being threatened by a deranged super villain. In essence, mundanity was the goal for my speculative video, while also leaving space for the dialogue to form something both familiar and peculiar.
Two artists who inspired this project were David Shrigley and Maurizio Cattelan. Shrigley employs humour in his drawings and animations, which could be described as absurd. I was drawn to the ridiculousness of his 2008 Video “Sleep,”[1] which features a cartoon man asleep, breathing heavily. Cattelan also uses satire in his artwork that critiques the institutional status quo. His 2011-2012 exhibition “All”[2] held in the Guggenheim in New York had many objects hanging on display, such as a horse and carriage, the pope, and a wax figurine duct-taped to a wall. In a CBS interview, Cattelan discusses the wax woman wearing a pant suit sitting in a refrigerator named Betsy. Neither Shrigley nor Cattelan integrates superhero themes into their artwork, but both artists exemplify how humour can be developed in one’s artistic practice. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud while watching this interview. I think there is a relatability in humour that everyone can get behind in some sense.
The 2025 video game Dispatch[3] heavily inspired the making of my speculative video as well. The game revolves around the main character, Robert. A former superhero who now works at a superhero dispatch center and manages a team of dysfunctional superheroes. Dispatch uses workplace comedy, which I found intriguing for the comedic aspects in my own work.
[1] David Shrigley, “Sleep,” David Shrigley, accessed November 16, 2025, https://www.davidshrigley.com/animation/sleep.
[2] “Maurizio Cattelan: All,” The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation, November 4, 2011, https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/maurizio-cattelan-all.
[3] AdHoc Studio, Dispatch Los Angeles: AdHoc Studio, 2025).
David Shrigley
Maurizio Cattelan
https://youtu.be/ybsuca1UXGg?si=tyc8CYhHc15qH_Hx
Process
I wrote out some of the dialogue before I began filming, but most of it was improvised. Improvising made the conversation feel more authentic, which was the goal for my video. I chose to wear a suit and tie to try to match a corporate look and make the audience believe I am actually a guy working at an insurance company. The filming went smoothly overall. The difficult part of this assignment was editing the footage in post-production. I had trouble keeping the background from moving too much because the camera was shaking at certain points in the video. Getting the lighting in my footage to match the lighting in the found footage was also tricky.
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