Ocno

Drawing from the ancient Greek myth of Ocno, condemned in Tartarus to endlessly weave a rope of straw only to have it devoured by a donkey as quickly as it’s made, this video work explores themes of futility and hesitation. Unlike the more widely known myth of Sisyphus, whose endless task of rolling a boulder uphill symbolises persistent struggle, Ocno’s story is more ambiguous, reflecting stalled effort and wasted time. Here, donkey is substituted with an automaton representing Ocno himself, weaving and consuming the rope in a continuous loop. This shift blurs the line between creator and destroyer, opening the work to interpretations that range from the despair of futility to the meditative beauty of craftsmanship, deliberately leaving its meaning open-ended.