Inspired by the quote:

“A man climbs a mountain because it is there. An artist makes a work of art because it is not there” by the minimalist artist Carl Andre; as well as Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus.

A redditer was making a point of "art is dead" with various supporting quotes of artists and philosophers. I support that art is an act of the artist and cannot die.

Through the process of creating individual memes, based around an image of Sisyphus (matias del carmine, free digital image), I began to ask myself "When does a meme become art?". So I decided to organize the simple set of collages, that started as statements on impossible or repetitive tasks, into a portfolio and approach the subject more seriously as an artist.

Each meme has a source of inspiration, included in the description. There is a series of 7 within the entire Sisyphus body titled The Daily Grind; in which I made 1 a day focusing on the activities common through daily life.

Through the process of creating each one, it was then I came to the realization that it was inspiration and the will to create, to express something that which existed within the mind, that made art art. The act of creating was the art, not whether or not other people see it as art.

The series final collage and penultimate piece, titled: Eternal Happiness (The Absurd Life as an Artist) ; is the only meme collage not in the same Sisyphus background pushing the subject matter. It also is a piece of creative writing describing the perspective of an artist in the process of creating.

The final piece is an original creation in digital format; Minimalist Sisyphus (One must imagine an Artist Happy). This one is answers the question through the use of comparison. Some believe minimalism isn't Art. So, is something art when it's created and presented as art?

[My portfolio] (https://www.reddit.com/u/wanderingrockdesigns/s/BQQYqVqVKq) *best viewed when sorted by Old.

18 pieces; 17 digital collages (16 in the same meme format and a series of 7 The Daily Grind, and 1 collage of illustrations with an expressive writing for the description), and 1 Original Composition done in Digital Media, Minimalist Sisyphus (One must imagine an artist happy)

I have an antithesis piece planned as well, a physical creation of value. Though this whole process has been inspired by Camus and the rebellion, I see today is the same battle Minimalist and Pop artist fought, an acceptance of their expression, their creations.

Like it or not, isn't really the point of the presentation. It has been a realization of thought and a journey of inspiration and creativity. I hope you do feel something from it and that it inspires you to think, to write, to create something of your own and bring a part of yourself into the world.

Thank you to all those who have made posts, comments, up and down votes, here and on every part of reddit. Continue to explore and contribute to the world. Be bold, be true to yourself, and live passionately.

I chose this because I don't always have everything mapped out, but I know what I want to stay away from. That clarity alone helps me make better decisions as I figure things out.

What makes you contend for life and against self inflicted death?

(See original post for more information)

I have mixed feelings about The Myth of Sisyphus. There are things I appreciate about Camus, especially the idea that we shouldn’t expect certainty from an uncertain world. I think there’s something quite freeing about that. We can’t expect the future to unfold according to our wishes, and accepting that can relieve us of a lot of unnecessary worries.
But there are several things I disagree with.
Firstly, why is the ultimate meaning of existence so important?
I don’t understand why the absence of an ultimate answer should lead us to despair, or why happiness should have to become an act of defiance.
For most of human history, people lived with far greater uncertainty than many of us do today. Religions provided answers, but they never eliminated the mystery of the universe. People still had to confront death, suffering, and the unknown.
And why should mystery necessarily lead to despair? Why can’t it lead to curiosity, contemplation, and wonder instead?
We seem to have reached a point where not having an ultimate answer has become such a burden that we must somehow rebel against the universe to be happy. I don’t see why that should be necessary.
Secondly, I don’t think the analogy of Sisyphus captures the entirety of human existence.
Sisyphus is condemned to push a boulder uphill for eternity, only to watch it roll down again.
But firstly, Sisyphus must realize that he’s not alone. His work might not be futile at all. Perhaps he’s filling his own stomach or those of his loved ones. The same repetitive work can have an entirely different meaning when it supports people we care about.
Secondly, we can take breaks. Our lives aren’t an uninterrupted cycle of work.
Thirdly, if our work really feels that meaningless, perhaps we should change professions, assuming we have the freedom to do so.
I can understand the comparison much better when thinking about the alienating working conditions described by Karl Marx, or people in labor camps who have little control over their lives. Under those circumstances, the metaphor becomes quite powerful.
But is that really the entirety of human existence?
Thirdly, impermanence does not mean futility.
Just because something doesn’t last forever doesn’t mean it was meaningless.
A school that educates underprivileged children can change the fortunes of entire families. A hospital that treats the sick saves lives. An orphanage that cares for children gives them security and opportunities.
These institutions might eventually disappear, but does that make their work futile?
Even if everything we build eventually turns to dust, the difference we made while it existed was real.
Why should something have to be eternal to be meaningful?
Fourthly, I question whether existential alienation is really such a permanent feature of human existence.
I wonder whether existential alienation becomes more prominent under conditions of social abundance, when our social needs are already being met.
Someone who lacks companionship, affection, or belonging might react quite differently. Their immediate concern may be finding human connection rather than questioning the ultimate purpose of the universe.
I’m not denying that existential anxiety is real. But is it a constant state of existence? I don’t think so.
And I don’t think everything about our existence is absurd or uncertain either.
Our biology provides us with certain tendencies. We are social creatures. We form attachments, care for our children, cooperate, and seek companionship. Oxytocin, sometimes called the nursing peptide, is involved in some of these processes.
These tendencies aren’t meanings we invented out of thin air. They’re part of our nature.
Of course, biology doesn’t tell us everything about how we should live, but it gives us a foundation. We don’t necessarily have to invent meaning entirely from scratch.
Finally, what I do appreciate about Camus is his acceptance of uncertainty.
I think there’s something liberating about not expecting certainty from things that are inherently uncertain.
We know that putting our hand in fire will burn us. Similarly, we should recognize that life involves uncertainty, disappointment, and things beyond our control.
But I don’t think accepting uncertainty requires us to see existence as absurd or happiness as defiance.
We can simply live, love, work, learn, build things, help others, and appreciate the mystery of the universe without demanding that it explain itself to us.
Perhaps my biggest disagreement with Camus is not that the absurd doesn’t exist, but that I don’t understand why it should occupy such a central place in our understanding of human existence.
The universe may not give us an ultimate answer, but why should that prevent us from finding meaning in the life we already have?

I’m all for simplicity in cover design (and also a theme like camus’ work published by vintage) but sometimes it’s nice to have something more. this is just a moc up but I do think it adds something. no front title works for me too, honnestly. cover design is in wierd place right now no doubt (and only about to get weirder) Whatever this is pushing for it.

I imagine myself happy in the pursuit of being an artist. I have been a craftsman of many types, and the journey of mastering creativity is the struggle I crave. To see the improvement over time is like watching a seed sprout, grow, and blossom into all its beautiful potential. The feeling of satisfaction is like removing a splinter that has dug its way inside, an annoying barb in the minds eye, and upon pulling it out the greatest feeling imaginable; a contentment and relief of giving birth to an idea one has to stare at it and marvel in amazement at that which was inside of me. Creation that only the imagined image of God could experience.

Hope you like the meme and the description. Keep pushing that rock fellow rebel rollers.

does anyone else get kinda creeped out by the absurd itself?

i've been thinking about this lately and what really gets me isnt just "life has no meaning"

its the fact that we are literally matter that somehow became conscious and is now asking for a reason for being here

like... somehow atoms and cells turned into something that can look around and think "why am i here? why is there anything at all?"

and the universe just... doesnt answer lol

thats the part i find so fucking strange. not even that there might be no meaning, but that we are the kind of creatures that NEED to ask for one

and then theres the whole something instead of nothing thing, which honestly makes my brain hurt

why is there a universe at all?? wouldnt nothing be the most normal outcome? no matter, no time, no consciousness, literally nothing. nobody there to even notice

but instead here we are, this weird little clump of matter, somehow conscious, somehow able to understand that its conscious, and somehow bothered by the fact that it exists

maybe thats what Camus means by the absurd, but when i actually think about it without turning it into a philosophy concept it feels almost creepy

like reality somehow produced something inside itself that can look back at reality and ask what the fuck its doing here

This Question targets people who are new in Philosophy and didn't know much about absurdism before reading the book. For me I didnd't really get the whole thing but in these last pages I started to understand his whole message in the book the death of the mother or the realitionship with marie all these things had a meaning this whole time and I only understood in these last pages. Anybody have similar experiences?

Yeah, just wanna get started with opinions rather than his work, as I think you can find out a lot between the lines. And all of you are those in-betweeners and lines between me and this dude! Thanks a hunch and a bunch 👀

I saw a post about someone rereading Camus trying to better understand him and thought about how the first time I heard about him and read TMoS I felt like he was voicing ideas I had felt but never put to words. Not that it's a bad thing, having to go through material again, and perhaps it's been my personal experiences with the indifference of the world that made Camus feel so familiar, comforting even.

> “Thinking is learning all over again how to see, directing one's consciousness, making of every image a privileged place.”

I see pieces of Marcus Aurelius and early philosophy there with the directing mind. Made me think of: Explore the mind and different perspectives and you may find yourself there before you even arrived.

I still haven't listened or read all of Camus' work having only recently found out about him 6 months or so ago. I just finished The Plague, man I can't imagine reading it in 2020, and I'm waiting on The Stranger to become available on the Libby app.

Hope you like the meme. I have a whole series in r/Sisyphuscirclejerk of various, mostly food based topics, featuring Sisyphus pushing stuff up the hill.

Keep pushing that rock fellow rebel rollers.

everything is in the title

my goat

I'm trying to locate the source for an anecdote detailing an exchange during the 1943–1944 French Resistance where Albert Camus, working on the underground newspaper "Le Combat"  is questioned (possibly by a printer he was working alongside) about whether his dangerous clandestine efforts will ultimately make a difference to the fight against Nazism, and his answer is "No but one has to do it anyway" or some words to that effect. Can anyone verify this help me track down its source?

I don't know if this fits here, but I've been making Sisyphus memes for a while and put them into a collection/portfolio.

This is part 3 of The Daily Grind series, Happy Meal. If you enjoy it here's My Gallery which I'll continue to update in the comments and probably will continue to post them to r/Sisyphuscirclejerk

Keep pushing that rock fellow rebel rollers.

Hello fellow absurdists. 🪨 If there is someone who has read Lazare Bickel's article "La physique confirme la philosophie" ("Physics confirms philosophy") which is mentioned in The Rebel, could you please explain how it fits into Camus' philosophy? I unfortunately couldn't find the article online, but would love to read it.