The Stranger, Existentialism & Me
NOVEL BY ALBERT CAMUS
Camus utilized The Stranger as a platform to explore absurdity, a concept central to his writings and at the core of his treatment of questions about the meaning of life. Albert Camus is the polarized man that he was, held more firmly to the belief of Absurdism than existentialism. The concept of the absurd instead implored people to accept life’s lack of meaning and rebel by rejoicing in what life does offer. But what’s give our life purpose?
If the fundamental component of existentialism is we are each born into a universe in which we and our world and our actions lack any real importance, then it's like we are searching for an answer in an answerless world. We are creatures who need a meaning but were abandoned into a universe full of meaninglessness. A sense of purpose is something we all crave, maybe even need.
While this indeed paints me to a pretty bleak picture of the world. I was drowning in the routine of our existence, getting into a deep conspiracy conversation with myself. The system is fake, is a huge lie. I might be living in a Truman Show, an artificial world full of actors. However, these actors are real as I am and also lost in space, spinning on a clock. What is my reality?
Within my practice, I had been gone almost full circle from painting family portraits to using mirrors to purse reality, finally back to the family narrative again. To some degree, I also become the protagonist in 'The Stranger' trying to approach my vulnerable self-awareness in the chaos of existence with my practice. Sometimes just a holy desire to make something ugly, uncomfortable, and haunting. Yes, it is messy and complicated, but it's real.
If the fundamental component of existentialism is we are each born into a universe in which we and our world and our actions lack any real importance, then it's like we are searching for an answer in an answerless world. We are creatures who need a meaning but were abandoned into a universe full of meaninglessness. A sense of purpose is something we all crave, maybe even need.
While this indeed paints my summertime to a pretty bleak picture of the world. I was drowning in the routine of our existence, getting into a deep conspiracy conversation with myself. The system is fake, is a huge lie. I might be living in a Truman Show, an artificial world full of actors. However, these actors are real as I am and also lost in space, spinning on a clock. What is my reality?