Do it Sisyphus is a sound and video work that was created by artist Ivan Mrsic as a strategy for dealing with tinnitus. After the doctor treating Mrsic's hearing learned he was a musician, they advised him; 'You can create your own masking agent… external noise kills internal noise'. Thus Mrsic describes Do it Sisyphus as a "....marvellous machine (that) creates sound through the movement of multicoloured vertical axles and bearings, crushing and milling tiny particles of sound with an inbuilt auto-filtering noise unit."
As the title of the work suggests, this video was influenced conceptually by the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was forced 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. Says Mrsic, “Sisyphus was punished by Gods, and I was punished by my own negligence, killing my ears slowly with loud live music, walkman, Ipod, stereo headphones, drums, printing machines etc. Sisyphus had to deal with rock. I am dealing with noise and mysterious sounds that live in my head."
Much of Mrsic's work can also be traced back to the influence of early 20th century figures in avant garde art and literature. When discussing Do it Sisyphus, he acknowledges the influence of French philosopher, author, and journalist Albert Camus, who said; 'The only thing that matters is your personal experience.'"
