a visual dialogue

From previous issues we invited artist duo Panos Charalampidis and Mary Chairetaki in Greece and Lan Chung-Hsuan in Taiwan to partake in A Visual Dialogue for issue #6.
They find common ground with a concept around Sisyphus, both sides resolute in their approach as they roll the rock back and forth in this fascinating A Visual Dialogue.

Sisyphus

August. 25, 2022
Lan

Mary and Panos, just want to share with you that my recent works are mostly about war, disaster, and history. The core concept is to explore the possible absence of identity by emphasizing the common fate of humans. I checked your website and I believe our works can create an interesting dialogue. However, I am open to any kind of theme. Please let me know your thoughts.

August 25, 2022
Panos and Mary

We absolutely agree with you. There are points of contact between your interests and our work, especially “Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable”. We think that our collaboration could be around these ideas and we would like to add the concept of futility. We can establish a working title like “Sisyphus”, but of course this is just a suggestion.

Below we copied Wikipedia’s related info on Sisyphus:
“In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was founder and king of Ephyra. Zeus punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean.”

August, 26, 2022
Lan

"Sisyphus” is great. To me, the character represents various aspects of relationships and it somehow demonstrates how human activities, especially the negative ones, loop on the world. Individual, vanity, system, power, arrogance, conquest, restriction... and of course, futility. I am just throwing out some initial words and I will narrow it down when I see your first image.

August 26, 2022
Panos and Mary

This is our first image (above left) and the text for it:
Sisyphus is condemned to carry a boulder up a hill for all eternity. The moment he reaches the top, the boulder rolls back down. Then he must repeat his mundane task. He is punished by Zeus, in a cruel inescapable fate. It is cruel because it is eternal; it is inescapable because it is dictated by gods. That is the basic frame of a simple but thought-provoking myth.

Time: The first thing that fascinates us is the perception of time, as represented in the myth of Sisyphus by the concept of eternity. We try to approach Sisyphus’ state of mind as he knows that his torment is endless. His story has no end, and, as such, it is difficult to tell when it started. At any point in time Sisyphus may have just started his punishment, or he may be stuck there long enough to feel forever. All we can know is that he still exists. Maybe he lost track of time, or maybe he stopped feeling the passage of time altogether. We can imagine him checking his watch. Is it ticking, or maybe it is not?

August 29, 2022
Lan

What is infinity? How does time define our existence? As the former king of Ephyra, do Sisyphus‘ previous prides still shine, or does the boulder he carries again and again eventually become his own way out? I tend to connect Sisyphus’ story to some of the historical incidents, and in my first image (above right), you will find a hand holding a piece of concrete with two medals of the Chernobyl disaster on the arm. The concrete, of course, represents the boulder that Sisyphus carries, as well as the concrete shelter of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The medal is a form that states how humans define or remember themselves through time. The image hints that no matter how many times that humans want to prove our strength, the same number of disasters will occur. All these built identities become futile and all the achievements become nothing in front of the infinite universe.

August 30, 2022
Panos and Mary

The work of Sisyphus seems futile like the life of a human being when compared to the vastness and the whims of the universe. Given enough time, individuals, societies, nations, and empires are bound to fall, and every system will inevitably decay. We experience tragedies like Chernobyl, wars, famines, and natural disasters, and give medals to create value out of our suffering.

Humans aspire to tame nature and even move mountains if needed. However, any achievement is not guaranteed, and the contemporary challenges we face remind us of the Sisyphean condition's inescapable character. Mankind is made of millions of Sisyphi struggling and carrying their own rocks.

August 31, 2022
Lan

How do we find our own rocks? In the excavation site, there is a chance for us to dig something out - anything we think that can prove the value of our existence. Eventually, we will hold the "rocks" we found up high and yell “I found it!” to the world. Since that, we carry our own "rocks" on our shoulders, hoping they can lead us to the future that we belong to. Your rock is not our rocks, and our rocks are not yours. He is condemned because he puts down the rock, and she hurts someone because they possess different rocks. Look, that is a used battleship gun shell that we just discovered from that pile of relics. This is the rock of our pride, it shows how we built us and we will protect this to death.

What people do not know is that a rock is a rock, and heaviness is its only good. Sisyphus knows, but there is no way for him to tell.

Sept. 3, 2022
Panos and Mary

The rock we carry defines us. It seems to give meaning to an otherwise pointless existence. For some people removing this rock means they must gaze into the abyss, and this is a terrifying experience. At the same time, carrying the same boulder with others gives a sense of belonging to a group. We could consider this process a crucial one for forming structured societies. Considering the above, we can understand why we may draw pride out of our burden or fight against others that may carry different rocks as they threaten our meaning of existence. People who put down their rocks may be considered a potential threat to the group they belong to. At the same time, the multifaceted functionality of the rock can have new potential. If burden can give meaning to life, we can construct fake rocks to invent a sense of meaningful existence and to steer societies. To what degree do the boulders we carry have actual heft? How many of them are faux, paper-light constructions?

Sept. 4, 2022
Lan

Let's imagine how the rock falls. Sisyphus just carried it to the top of the mountain, and now, it must fall. When it rolls down the ramp, is the collision strong enough to break the chain? Is there any chance that Sisyphus can roll the rock in the opposite direction? Hypothetically, we shall be able to make the rock function according to our will. So here it is, the rock is now our weapon, we use it to crack up the rules.

Bang, bang, bang, the sound of gunshots coming from rock hitting the ground; once, twice, thrice, we mourn each failure. Zeus, the universe, or whatever unseen, watching us struggle with no mercy. Quietly, Sisyphus retrieves the rock and turns around. It's time to show what he is good at again - take the rock to the mountain - or maybe not this time?

Sept. 5, 2022
Panos and Mary

Sisyphus is punished by Zeus for breaking the rules: he cheated death. Can humans rebel and disregard the will of gods? We can imagine Sisyphus desires to do so. However, any successful escape from his torment cancels the myth itself as punishment becomes not necessarily eternal, and the barriers imposed by gods are not insuperable. Sisyphus is free to try to escape, but he is doomed to fail. If he cannot imagine freedom and does not try to liberate himself, he does not possess free will. Therefore he would be incapable of suffering and being punished. The only way out of Sisyphus' misery is to accept his fate. Sisyphus' existence is tied eternally with the rock. Inevitably, he becomes one with the boulder, a rock himself.

Sept. 8, 2022
Lan

Probably for Sisyphus, there is no way out, but let's try to appreciate something within. Maybe we start with Sisyphus's perseverance? Oh yes, with such a hopeless and rough fortune ahead, Sisyphus never stops fulfilling his duty - no matter if he is forced to do it or not.

How did the British survive the bombing in World War 2? Their lives were uncertain and they hid underground, but they never surrendered. To counterstrike the threat, a Spitfire sometimes flew close enough to a V-1 flying bomb in the air. It touched the bomb with its wings to lead the bomb out of control. It was risky, but they never gave up. That's the weight of life, and that's the weight of Sisyphus, who becomes the rock, hard and unbreakable, although these are all from the endless punishment.

Sept. 9, 2022
Panos and Mary

Perseverance is key to Sisyphus. This myth strongly reflects aspects of human history. We constantly go through circles of despair and greatness. We carry the rock upwards only to watch it roll down again and again. Each time we declare our determination not to repeat the same mistakes. We believe we become wiser while we take our first steps towards the next calamity. All it takes is perseverance and a little bit of naivety. History will repeat itself in random ways.

Black swan theory is a metaphor to describe rare events of major impact. These events are hard or impossible to predict although post-analysis erroneously gives the impression of predictability as we are hindsight biased. We can think of a black swan as the equivalent of gravity pulling the rock downwards. Our past and future is just a pile of black swans.

Sept. 11, 2022
Lan

It is September 11th today in New York. Twenty-one years ago, two planes hit the World Trade Center and caused one of the greatest tragedies in modern history as well as one of the most iconic events of black swan theory. We always want to claim that we are all just human, but none of us could escape from the political game - that is to say that a political move might change the deadlock. Who should take control? Who should succeed the monarchy and dictatorship? Some countries might try to be more independent after the Queen's death, and there are others refusing to recognize a new government in the Middle East. If Sisyphus crowns himself, would the king of the gods of Mount Olympus take action? Would Sisyphus break free? Or would anyone in that world cheer for the new king, and Sisyphus' punishment become a heroic move?

Sept. 13, 2022
Panos and Mary

Sisyphus is sentenced to an inescapable punishment but, at the same time, he is exceptionally clever. As a human being, he yearns for recognition and appreciation. If he crowns himself king, the gods, quite possibly, would be indifferent as long as he continues to roll the boulder. Although they have trapped his body, his spirit remains free. Sisyphus' legacy is an example to humans, and the success of his myth testifies to this. He has capitalized on his suffering through leverage. He creates value out of nothing, and for this, he becomes a slave–king. His gain lightens the burden of the rock, and the stone  becomes his crown. In the depths of time, his body wrinkles while the rock shrinks.

Sept. 15, 2022
Lan

The wrinkles wrinkle, and the rock shrinks into them. Sisyphus of the rock gets slowly dark and stiff. In the end, they finally become one, and we don't see them anymore. Its physical form of it no longer exists, and the story has been imprinted in people's minds throughout history. All the illusionary imagination about Sisyphus should pause, there is nothing to see. Instead, it is about to feel - how we feel the same frustration and confidence in this world full of challenges as Sisyphus felt in his world. Eventually, the definition of the metaphor of the story of Sisyphus depends on how we decide to live on - accept the futility or go down swinging.

Following the collaboration we asked Lan, Panos and Mary about the experience.

Describe the collaborative process with a total stranger on the other side of the world.
Panos and Mary: We really enjoyed it! It is challenging to produce an image in such a short time. However, it is an intense process that can be very satisfying when you get good results.
Lan: The process of receiving and reacting was really interesting. It was the opposite of how I make art but in a good way. My making process is very logical, researched-based, and well-planned. Each image they shared with me keeps me away from my presumptions, and I got to do something unexpected. However, I came across an obstacle when it came to the 4th or the 5th image. The more I got used to the topic, the more I returned to my method.

How did the visual dialog affect your work?
Panos and Mary: We feel that it came out quite well. The exchanged texts were also very inspiring as they gave us new directions about the myth of Sisyphus, and Lan added an interesting perspective to this.
Lan: I am satisfied with the outcome. It would be wonderful if we can physically show them somewhere someday.

How will it affect the way you work, or think about making work in the future?
Panos and Mary: The dialogue practice is not uncommon to us. As an artist duo, dialogue is crucial to our work. This was the reason we were eager to participate, and we would like to thank you for giving us this opportunity.
Lan: This October, I will present a solo at an art space I run with my friends. The show will intentionally show almost no work but only objects. I think I am extending the idea of receiving and reacting here. But this time, I tend to let the audience react to the content and reveal their own points of view.

Panos Charalampidis and Mary Chairetaki @panos_mary
Lan Chung-Hsuan @lanchunghsuan

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