Dear Sisyphus
installation
2015
In the ancient Greek myth Sisyphus is punished by gods for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll back down and repeating this action forever. His punishment is to endure an eternity of hopeless, meaningless labor. The stone of Sisyphus represents a heavy mental and physical burden that he cannot escape. It is also and obstacle in his way that he has to defeat over and over again.
For a long time, Vilčinskaitė has been collecting particular type of stones with naturally occurring holes in them. The holes occur from water beating down upon the stones over many years.
Stones the collection have different qualities and meanings than the stone of Sisyphus. In this case holey stones do not signify a burden or a heavy task, these type of stones in mythology were believed to have magical properties such as protection against negative forces and bring good luck. The hole could symbolize getting through an obstacle.
In the installation’s 60 meter letter holey stones strive to replace the symbolic meaning of Sisyphus stone.
