The Necessity of Creativity in an Absurd ExistenceAn existential overview into the architected absurd, actualised self and authenticated existence.James Dyer, BA (Hons) Multimedia DesignThe University of Huddersfeld, 2013cover photograph MontemorRineke DijkstraThis study would not have become what it is without the uncompromising guidance from Spencer Roberts,and the continual support from Derek Hales, Jason Payne and Annek Pettican. am sincerely grateful forall their patience and passionate input.Thank you.ContentsThe Necessity of Creativity in an Absurd ExistenceAbstractntroductionDissecting the Camusian and Sartrean Approach to the AbsurdThe Tripartite Absurdum TheoryThe Subjugation of AbsurdityConclusionReferencesFigure ListBibliographyThe Necessity of Creativity in an Absurd ExistenceAbstractn this study will investigate the role of creativity in the context of what the existentialist philosophersposition as an absurd existence, and attempt to define it as a necessary tool for self-expression, reflectionand actualisation. Focusing on the works of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre will dissect theirnarrativised dialogue between subject and absurdity, with intent to find a commonality between theirapproaches through their engagement with subjugation, characterisation and self-actualisation. shall alsobe complementing this with Viktor E. Frankl's psychoanalytic school of Logotherapy, attributing the effectsof creativity to the necessity of defining meaning and direction in one's existence, taking reference fromFrankl's Man's Search for Meaning (1946).IntroductionYou make the mistake of thinking you have to choose, that you have to do what you want, thatthere are conditions for happiness. What matters all that matters, really is the will to happiness,a kind of enormous, ever-present consciousness. The rest women, art, success is nothing butexcuses. A canvas waiting for our embroideries. (Camus, 1971).The theory of the absurdity of existence is fundamentally based upon an awareness of the meaninglessnessof life, were all personal goals and justifications for life are ultimately arbitrary landmarks in an existenceplagued by the inevitability of death. Furthermore, to attribute meaning by entertaining ideas of anomnipotent being, that protects and justifies one's actions with illusive gestures towards meaning, is to denythe actual truth of the irrational, indifferent world in which one temporarily exists. This is to say that thetheory of an absurd existence is based upon the notion of an existence that cannot logically be reduced to arational meaning, perhaps one of the most extreme cases of reductio ad absurdum .1According to the existentialist philosophers, at the realisation of this meaninglessness one experiences an"existential vacuum (Frankl, 1973) - the sensation of a lacking purpose and feelings of isolation, anguishand disparity. Albert Camus writes that the now newly identified absurd existence should not be met withdisdain, but rather used as a "springboard (Hinchcliffe, 1974: 36) to propel oneself into an existence offreedom, passion and meaning; this is the tunnel at the end of the light. t can be equated to the mythologyof Oedipus, which presents his suffering as beginning upon the awareness of his tragic situation; whilst also1 Latin: reduction to absurdityrecognising this as the moment of enlightenment for Oedipus, that enabled him to continue in an authenticexistence (Camus, 1979: 109). n this sense, the unveiling of the mystery is the start of living in absurdity,and it is the mystery that matters "...what matters is not freedom, not love, but the riddle, the secret, themystery to which they must place themselves in thrall (Benjamin, 2008: 69) The notion of enthrallingoneself in the absurdity of existence is something with which Camus accords, it is what he calls anever-present consciousness, (Camus, 1973: 91) the idea that each present moment of existence must bedenoted meaning in that moment, a constant renewal; this is to keep in the forefront of consciousness the"...implacable grandeur of this [one] life (Hinchcliffe, 1974: 38). Viktor E Frankl calls this pursuit of meaningthe will to meaning (2011), but he notes that the meaning is not something that can be prescribed; as eachmeaning is intrinsically subjective and, as such, must be achieved through an introspective self-analysis, itshould be noted in Frankl's studies that the structure and process of this will to meaning is neversystematic, there are no declarative statements, or an intent to ascribe conditions for an absurd or fulfilledexistence, that lack of ascription is the enabling factor for understanding the responsibility for ones ownexistence. Similarly Sartre comments on Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus (1979) surmising that the noveldoes not explain the absurd but "...merely describes the condition and its consequences, (Hinchcliffe,1974: 39) which can also be applied to Sartre's novel Nausea (2000). Ultimately these are creative acts thatengage with the subjective notion of absurdity, through the creation of personal, characterised, ornarrativised meaning.Dissecting the Camusian and Sartrean Approach to the AbsurdCamus uses the anecdote of Sisyphus in The Myth of Sisyphus (1979) to illustrate the repetitive,meaningless and mechanistic nature of existence, but also utilises the protagonist to exercise the dialoguebetween the actualisation of self and the absurd. Sisyphus is a character in Greek mythology that ispunished by being sentenced to a life of meaningless repetitive labour, he is condemned by the gods to rolla boulder to the top of a mountain, but on reaching the peak it rolls back down to the bottom, only forSisyphus to haul it to the summit again. Camus notes that the gods ".had thought with some reason thatthere is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour." (Camus, 1979: 107) t is important tounderstand here that in the interpretation of mythology and storytelling, re-imagined tales are moulded to theperspective of the teller (Buxton, 2010: 6), not in a way that is untrue to the original, but in a way thatdevelops the history of the story. Many people are documented in retelling the myth of Sisyphus, all of2which emphasise and de-emphasise elements of the story to create their own abridged version. Camuswrites on the telling from Homer, and in turn write on the telling from Camus; in accordance with the'tradition' of this abridged, edited storytelling, will divorce the hedonistic tones as well as the intrusion of thegods prior to Sisyphus' incarceration, to distil the key element of my focus; the characterisation of theabsurdity of existence.The key element to take from this myth is not a metaphor consisting of slavery, or an oppressive powercompromising individual freedom, but rather that Sisyphus was conscious of his absurd existence, he wasconscious of all its elements, and as such "[t]he lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same timecrowns his victory. (Camus, 1979: 109) Sisyphus could reflect on his condition, and it is in thecontemplation of existence that the absurdity is both acknowledged and silenced, Camus writes "There isno Sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night. (1979: 110) Through contemplative selfanalysis one attests to the night and demonstrates all is not exhausted. This typifies Camus approach tothe absurd, he seems to illuminate two key themes throughout his work; that the absurdity of existence isrealised after an antagonistic subjugation or conflict, and that the symbiosis of, in Camusian terms, sorrowand joy (1979), begins once one becomes conscious of the situation, as demonstrated with Oedipus andSisyphus.This sociocultural subjection is noted in The Outsider (2000), Meursault, the protagonist, experiences hisabsurdity as a product of his social and cultural circumstance. The novel is bisected into pre and postincarceration, as Meursault experiences violence, sex, death and murder with a seeming lack of empathy orremorse, his physical actions seem arbitrary, and the inner monologues sketch his mind as being in an2 Friedrich Welcker, Franz Kafka, Publius Ovidius Naso, and more.ignorant state of absurdity. After a key pivotal scene in which Meursault murders an Arab man for seeminglyambiguous reasons, the court hearing highlights the salient moments where he has acted discordantly andaloof, ultimately sentencing him to death. t is only when confronted with his immediate demise thatMeursault retrospectively analyses his actions and current condition, concluding to be happy with hisinevitable death as he describes his condition in essence as being an effect of circumstance. Meursaulttakes full responsibility for his actions and seems to meet his death sentence with a calm awareness of hispast and present isolation, achieving a relative homeostasis after thinking about his mother "...for the firsttime in a long time (2000: 116). As Meursault sits on his bunk his sterile promontory he begins tounderstand his Mother's actions in taking a fianc at the end of her life, in what he had previously believedwas a feigning gesture toward a new life; believe this is the start of Meursault's understanding of a theoreticever-present consciousness, a realisation that he is an outsider, and as such he desires a compassionaterelationship with others that he does not understand, as he wishes to be less lonely, "...for the finalconsummation and for me to feel less lonely, my last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectatorsat my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hatred. (2000: 117).Conversely in Sartre's Nausea (2000) the protagonist, Roquentin, experiences his absurdity through themanifestation of an almost debilitating nausea, the 'sweet sickness' distorts his experience and perceptionin a way that encompasses body and mind, and leads him into a self-analysis that results in dread andangst, as the overwhelming experience of an existential crisis consumes him. Roquentin's relationships and3experiences of life are marginalised because of his nausea, the symptom of his absurdity, he is thus victimof his circumstance. Whilst living in isolated abstraction, reading and writing, the thing that jolts hismechanistic existence, that goads him to act and be present in the moment is his nausea, his absurdity isan antagonism that drives him; that is to say that the element that gives a context to his 'normal' non-absurdlife is his manifested absurdity.This is the key difference between the Sartrean and Camusian approach, and will be the focus for definingthe causal relationship between the subject and the absurd, through either the Camusian antagonismbetween subject, sociocultural circumstance and conflict, primarily noted in The Outsider (2000), or theSartrean approach of a subject in metaphysical anguish and phenomenological negation, through acontinuous self-analysis, ideally illustrated in Nausea (2000). Although in both these examples neitherprotagonist reaches an apotheotic level of actualisation, the reader is only exposed to a narrativisedcrescendo, the death sentence of Meursault and the departure of Roquentin; this is almost a standardisedformat for the philosophical novel, as previously stated, it is not to ascribe an ideal practice but to "...describe the condition and its consequences. (Hinchcliffe, 1974: 39) To create a character that fully3 The moment in which one challenges their own structured existenceDoug !"#$%&Migration, Empire, 2008fgure 1.2fgure 1.1self-actualises and transcends the absurdity through their consciousness is bordering on an egoisticcreation by the author of a philosopher king (Edmonds and Warburton, 2007), and in this creation asimultaneous prophetic dialogue would appear between author and reader, as the book would mutate intosome form of self-help guide. nstead the authors leave space for the reader to inhabit and and create theirown narrative, from their own perspective and experiences. As Camus writes, he believes that the Art ofabsurdity must only describe one's personal experience of the absurd, not define it, (Camus, 1979: 39) indoing so would be to create a limiting definition and attempt to refine an ascription to an ideological absurdexistence.This seems to fit with Slavoj Zizek's statements on the contemporary and traditional application ofphilosophy, denouncing that the role of the philosopher is merely to ask ridiculous questions that are thenridiculed by sceptics, rather he calls philosophy a "...modest discipline. (Zizek. 2005) An exercise inredefining problems that exist, to create an implicit understanding of what the true coordinates of thequestion are, proposing that the role of the philosopher is not in making grand statements of absolute truths.This practice is present in both Nausea (Sartre, 2000) and The Outsider (Camus, 2000), neither authors northeir characters imply an absolute truth to practice, but challenge the coordinates of the defined meaningfuland meaningless existence. They are not primarily instigating thought into whether or not one is in a state ofmeaningfulness or meaninglessness, but rather questioning what it means to be in a state ofmeaningfulness or meaninglessness, to further elaborate ones personal understanding of a condition. And inthis application the reader can populate their own perspective of understanding with selective elements ofthe systemic dialogue within the protagonists and their narrativised condition.The Tripartite Absurdum TheoryThe focus upon the absurdity of existence is clear in both Camusian and Sartrean texts, but there are cleardifferences between their approaches, the reasoning for this difference is unimportant, but attempting todefine them will help clarify the nature of the absurd, in the context of its relationship with creativity, as wellas creativity's necessity in an existence occupied by absurdity. Here the absurd is segmented into threecategories to eliminate ambiguity through definition, the Tripartite Absurdum Theory, consisting of:1. Endoabsurdum, the inner absurdity that Sartre commentates on in Nausea (2000), themetaphysical anguish and depersonalisation of the exterior world, as endoabsurdity consumes themind and pollutes the familiar physical world.2. Exoabsurdum, the outer/exterior absurdity that Camus illustrates, how the realisation of anexoabsurd environment isolates and debilitates, producing the sense of a stalking loneliness thathaunts ones actions .43. Holosabsurdum, the marriage of both an exoabsurd and endoabsurd existence in a co-operativeeffort to materialise the entirety of an absurd existence. This is the pinnacle of the absurdexistence, a full immersion in meaninglessness, the fertile ground for an existential vacuum.Application of any one of these facets of absurdity is not particularly telling of the applicant's agenda, ratherit is the order in which they are applied that reveals a coherent desire of intent, which is to say the primaryapplication of, for example, an endoabsurdist perspective as seen in Nausea (2000), in which theprotagonists first engagement with the absurd is manifested from an internal nauseating sickness, whichthen gradually develops into an exoabsurd phenomena through hallucination and mutation of the immediatephysical environment, ultimately resulting in the reveal of a holosabsurdity, where the marriage of the twoprior absurd experiences culminate to an unsurpassable absurd experience, the almost epiphanic level ofrealisation. This narrativised crescendo is the pseudo-conclusive linchpin to which the reader must occupythe character, and develop a personal understanding of the events and applied coordinates of absurdity,transgressing the implicit dialogue between character and narrative, to abrogate ascription and ultimatelyengage with one's own subjective absurdity. Which is to say the messages should be applied in the contextof the readers experience of absurdity, in a way which is not a direct application, but one that the reader canauthentically relate to. Even though Camus approaches the absurd from a root tangential to Sartre,ultimately the approach toward a pseudo-conclusive realisation of holosabsurdity is still the key focus.4"Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. n bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere.There's no escape. 'm God's lonely man. (Taxi Driver, 1976)The opposing approach from Camus is the absurd development from the primary origin of an exoabsurdrealisation, as in The Outsider (2000), the protagonist experiences his absurdity as an apparent subjectionto a conflicting sociocultural circumstance, the exterior conditions inflict the realisation of exoabsurdum,which becomes the catalyst for an introspective self-analysis, this in turn instigates an endoabsurdistperspective, resolutely ending in holosabsurdity as light is shed on his past and current existence inabsurdity. nterestingly the inference of holosabsurdum in this instance is sullied, as the affirmativeengagement exists, but does not ultimately alter the conditions of existence, the character remainsincarcerated and his death imminent, but he now possesses an ever-present consciousness and parallacticperspective of being and its futility.Here think it is vital to state a position on these two absurd principles, although the differences are subtle,it is important to understand the responsibility implied in each. Firstly Sartre's conditions of nausea arerooted in an imposition, a metaphysical infringement that interrupts an otherwise implied balancedexistence, this leads me to believe the absurdity that Sartre is describing is as such an anomaly, a blip inan otherwise harmonious structure, the imposition thus alienates Roquentin physically and spiritually fromothers, but paradoxically the endoabsurdity is a product of his own construction, his perspective of theimmediate environment is dictated by his own mode of interaction, this would imply a degree of control, ashis absurdity is navigated and ultimately circumvented from an intellectual perspective, on either aconscious or subconscious level; which suggests this absurdity is an intellectual creation. Containing theideal that only through a self initiated instantiation of self-analysis could one communicate an absurdity inexistence. This is to say a form a self-analysis that is not wholly accessible to all, one may lack thevocabulary (literally and metaphorically) to attain this absurdity. nversely Camus develops a wholly moreaccessible absurdity, something that has no requirement other than an emotional intelligence andengagement with one's own existence. The absurdity in The Outsider (2000) is realised after a full emotionalengagement and retrospective overview of Meursault's existence. No sole party is correct in this respect, butit is important to maintain an awareness that both Camus and Sartre were communicating entirely differentorigins of absurdity.The Subjugation of AbsurdityAs seen in Meursault's apotheosis at the end of Camus' The Outsider (2000) the message is implied thatvictory is granted only in the realisation of absurdity, and he demonstrates through Sisyphus that thisawareness of absurdity in existence must be continuously renewed, through an ever-presence ofconsciousness, as the flux of meaning, and life's constant change of state could never deliver homeostasisin one "leap of faith" (Camus, 1978) that would be philosophical suicide and as such an unjust reaction tothe absurd. This requirement of an ever-present consciousness is something that is revised in bothCamusian and Sartrean subjugation of the absurd through creativity, and more specifically via a parallacticjolt in perspective. To understand this further the use of an altered perspective in Frankl's Man's Search forMeaning (2011) should be defined.Viktor E Frankl created a new school in Psychotherapy that approached an individual's treatment from anexistential analytic perspective, focusing on the will to meaning, rather than pleasure or power as precededin Freudian and Adlerian psychotherapy; Frankl focused on the patient under treatment as an individual withtheir own individual circumstances, rather than the prior methods of developing all inclusive, impersonaldiagnoses. n Frankl's Psychotherapy and Existentialism (1973) it is clear that the prior conditions ofabsurdity and existential angst described by Camus and Sartre are in abundance, as case after case ofpatients experiencing absurdity in their existence is described. Frankl does not deny the impact andsignificance of ones conditions, whether of biological, psychological or sociological nature, but he believesthat one's perspective, understanding and thus positive interaction with these conditions are congenial to thepractice of the final "[.] vestige of spiritual freedom" - the independence of mind (Frankl, 2011). n thisinstance the interaction and application of the independent mind is exercised in the subjugation ofexperience.This subjugation of experience, using creativity as mediation, is used as a tool to further understand andmanipulate experiences, it may be refracted into multiple facets of focus from psychological, sociological orbiological perspectives, but the paramount element for this all inclusive reference is the ability to introduce apresence of consciousness, as creativity mutates into a motive enabling reflective analysis of ones life inpast, future and more importantly in the present. t develops the heterarchical relationships between thecreator and the other, in the Lacanian symbolic sense (Homer, 2004). From the point of conception the5relationship transcends form, context and content, and becomes a salient manifestation of a metaphysicalnotion of the self, a tangible concretion of an ephemeral moment. This creation is then exposed to a5 n reference to the Lacanian Oedipus complex; in which there is no such thing as a binary relationship. nthis sense between that which is created and the creator!"#$%$&!"#$%&'(De Panne, Belgium, August 7 1992fgure 2.1translation and transference by other(s), which only validates its necessary existence. Camus believes thatworks of Art are something that assist the personal awareness of others, and are something that indicates acommonality in fate. This is the power of authentication exceeding the power of representation. The creationauthenticates the absurdity in the others existence, as well as that of the creators, it does not merelyrepresent it in Art, its role is to validate the absurd through communication.This is to say that if there is honesty in a creation, the creator not only communicates their own perspectiveof that which is presented, but also relays that perspective to the other who consumes the creation, whichmay then validate the others perspective. For example Charles Bukowski's poem Nirvana (1991: 79), theother who consumes it may not know of this specific diner, or have experienced that specific occasion, butthe other can understand the communicated message of isolation, loneliness and alienation, and even theexperiences of a nirvana which is found and lost. As such this poem may then validate one's ownencounters with the implied messages, and even to an extent further inform the mode of interaction once inthat moment. t is vital to highlight here, this is not stating that a fanatical consumption of Art will delineateany overwhelming sense of absurdity, it would be in effect encountering ones own absurdity by proxy, onemust engage entirely with ones own absurdity in creation to truly achieve a form a transcendence, in orderto become lucid and fully self-aware.This is the juxtaposition of Roquentin and Meursault, as Roquentin actively engages in the exposure andcreation of Art, he continuously analyses it as a key facet in his existence, as it plays a role in theintermediation between himself, the creation and the other in connection with his social environment, as helistens to the radio, writes his book and visits the library. Which is contrary to Meursault who has a strictlydistanced relationship with his environment, and almost a restricted desire for connectivity with others, in thesense that his expression of anxiety, discomfort or passion remain internalised, and thus are seeminglyrepressed the other then experiences aloof behaviour and disregards any empathetic possibility inMeursault, he becomes dehumanised. This lacking outlet does not allow a transcendence into lucidity, noteven a waiver of possibility into an awakening or deeper understanding, so as stated with Frankl, it is in hissociological affliction of incarceration that sets the trigger of analysis, rather than the arts or creation. n onesense Meursault's realisation of absurdity holds a purity that Roquentin's does not, a sense that there is nopredeterminate perversion of reason for the involvement with creation, but in a second sense it is not selfinitiated, or sustainable, it has a lacking responsibility.n this regard the creative act described enables an engagement with other(s), symbolic or otherwise, aswell as initiates a platform to discover and control meaning in one's existence, as experiences can bemanipulated and distorted to conform to the newly defined authentication of and meaning in existence. Thissubjugation of absurdity is in no way suggested here to replace the foundations of definitive reality, (in theradical subjectivist sense) this is not a declaration to say that one can use creativity to live in an obscenesolipsistic-esque reality, but that the coordinates of the apparent crises, such as an affliction from the law,an infringing nausea, or death, can be interpreted and understood on newly defined terrain which is under thecontrol of the subject, the existence of the crises alone is not what is being challenged. This is not apractice in denying reality, but rather invigorating, understanding, and taking ownership of one's ownperspective of reality. This is the vital responsibility that one engages in when practising creativity, as oneinitiates the independence of mind, which is fundamentally a necessity for living authentically in absurdity.The following illustrative examples of creativity, that engage with the prior mentioned theories andphilosophies, should be noted to be of personal significance, the subjective relationship to creative work andits importance is not, as with the theories, something that can be ascribed. My personal accounts andexperiences of creations may differ greatly or minutely to the next persons experience, but in theengagement and analytical style of these examples, hope to distil a format that can be modified andapplied by others. The criteria for choosing these creators was simply that they should all be living,contemporary practitioners and no two could work alike. decided on Doug Aitken's video installationMigration, complemented with Rineke Dijkstra's documentative portraiture photography, and finally acontrasting project from a collaboration between musician and sound artist Tim Hecker, and sculptor andsound artist Marla Hlady, in their project Nite Ride. But these theories could be applied to any creative work,from Giorgio de Chirico to Matthew Barney, the relative application of these theories is justified by thesubjective engagement and interpretation of the work.n Doug Aitken's installation, Migration , he creates three billboard style screens featuring video projections,6The screens sit behind one another, allowing the audience to occupy a space between to experience thework. The billboards display the same footage; a seemingly disjointed film in which ethereal beasts andcreatures meander in an alien world, almost belonging whilst trespassing in the hotel rooms, swimmingpools and hallways as everyday objects and spaces become inane and distant, as seen in the scene with adeer knocking the contents of a mini bar on the floor which immediately renders the bottles alien andabsurd. The challenging of perspective, especially in a passive medium such as this, is an ideal use ofcreativity to disembody the audience in such a way that familiar objects definitions become elusive and theirforms no longer represent the objects once known. The framed focus draws a state of near trance likeinvolvement, the punctum is in every form and element experienced. n a sense Aitken has delivered theexperience of Roquentin's realisation in Sartre's Nausea (2011)"...[people] looked like scenery to me... If anyone had asked me what existence was, I would have6 See figures 1.1 and 1.2answered, in good faith, that it was nothing, simply an empty form which was added to externalthings without changing anything in their nature."Aitken presents this epiphanic accomplishment in waves of ambient moments, the presence of the animalsis abstracted and occupied by the viewer, as they experience being lost in a world of props and enigmaticsymbols. Because this challenged perspective is not explicit, the work is less imposed on the viewer, ratherit constructs a space to become reflective over one's condition and the personal interpretation of the work.One stares at the monolithic projections - realising the absurdity of merely being and meandering inborrowed space, through an endoabsurdist introspection. This in a sense is Aitkens subjugation of alienationand loss, which has a generality to it, the focus and meaning is wholly manufactured and interpreted by theviewer; similarly to Rineke Dijkstra's portraiture , Dijkstra formulates solid key themes as the focuses for her7photography, be it bullfighters after a fight, young adolescents after swimming or mothers and their newlyborn children. Her work is less about enabling moments for self reflection, but more about highlighting thestrength and presence of individuality and personality in the subjects, as they are withdrawn from their socialcontext, the isolated sitters pose staring into the viewer in a striking moment of altercation and engagement,almost as if breaking the fourth wall. There forms are entombed into the negative while they hold astatue-esque physicality that draws on the timelessness of being, in its many forms and veneers. believe itis only after leaving the gallery and not directly experiencing the work that one can position oneselfretrospectively as a subject of Dijkstra's, understanding objectively ones context and outward appearancefrom the perspective of 'the gaze', qualifying the environment as a set backdrop and joining the subjects inbreaching the fourth wall in momentary exoabsurdism.n both aforementioned creative work from Dijkstra and Aitken, the element of direct interaction is missing,the dialogue between the created piece and an audience is in essence not ultimately necessary for thepiece to exist in its entirety, there is no explicit mode of direct interaction, but in Tim Hecker and MarlaHlady's interactive music project Nite Ride the presence of an audience is paramount in the completion of8the work. Nite Ride is a one hour bus trip around Ottawa-Gatineau, the bus is fitted with 5.1 surround soundthat is playing a dedicated remastered track from Tim Hecker. n addition to this, the experience isconstantly being manipulated by the passengers, as bleary lights and distant tones of colour become anincongruous generative visual display in the peripheries, briefcase like objects that contain mechanical9devices that manipulate looping sounds, are traded between passengers, each echo back their own auditoryidentity from its own dedicated speaker, splintering the surround sound audio track with the clacking ofboxes and their shuffling mechanisms. This mode of becoming directly involved, rather than passively7 See front cover and figure 2.18 See figure 3.29 See figure 3.1engaged, can produce a sense of ownership in experience, which believe is a much more concrete way toconfront and subjugate personal experiences through creativity, rather than the more complex and abstractrelationship with an impersonal creation, with Nite Ride the experience envelopes the audience within itsinteractivity and dynamic form.Tim Hecker, Marla HIadyNite Ride, Empire, 2009fgure 3.2fgure 3.1ConcIusionn conclusion the role of creativity as a method to self-actualise and transcend the absurdity of existence,seems overly romantic and grossly irrational. t would imply the act of creative involvement to be near thelevel of a consumable commodity, which (if it were) would propose an almost perverse cause of desire; werethe crux of a creative act would be to achieve some form of fast tracked truth or enlightenment, in a form nottoo dissimilar to that of Ariadne; the embodied element that aides one in navigating through the labyrinth.There is still, nevertheless a necessity of creativity in an absurd existence, and its necessity in this equationis precisely to create and foreground the subjective conditions of an absurd existence, to manifest thepersonal terms in which one lives in absurdity. Which is to say, creativity is not a tool that can be applied toan all-encompassing absurd existence as a counteractive force, but rather that it is a tool that creates arefined personal absurdity.As one produces the personal subjective meaning and purpose of existence, one also inadvertently createsa co-inhabiting non-meaning, in so much as the positive attribution of elements to architect an image ofmeaningfulness, also, in its negative space, defines that which is not meaningful, the meaningless; "Onerecognises one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it. (Camus, 1979: 103) As such thederivative definition creates the antithesis of that which will give context to the proactive engagement with ameaningful fulfilled existence. This is to say that the positive can not exist without the negative, notnecessarily in equal measure but more in a sense of causation, and it is in the indirect definition of thenegative element that there is also a creation of antagonism, an opposing friction or resistance, which maythen become a defining force that attributes a greater meaning and context to the engagement with thepositive - the meaningful.t is through creativity that both the architected meaningfulness and symbiotic meaninglessness is exploredand further defined. do not believe that the 'pursuit of happiness' (in a quite literal sense, as a pursuit, andnot the attainment of happiness) is complemented by creativity, believe once one enters the fever of amanic emersion in creation, the ideology of an almost conformist approach to achieve happiness throughthis creativity is obscene. To be clear in this, am not stating that it is only in an engagement and reflectionon the essence of existence, or theoretical meaning of being that can create the conditions of a personalabsurdity or true self-actualisation, am stating that it is in the preferential choice of what one does anddoes not desire to be of a meaningful or meaningless quality. As we now live in an age of apparentautonomy of choice the implied freedom paradoxically inhibits the present consciousness. There is a fargreater array of choices than ever before, and this supposedly aides ones welfare by maximising individualfreedom - The Official Dogma (Schwartz, 2005) but with every decision made the antagonism of thenon-decision perpetually accompanies it. This can be seen manifested in its most simple transparent formonline; through the constant presentation of possible alternative choices not yet made. Simply illustratedwhen streaming videos, whilst watching the current video (the choice) there is a list of other suggestedvideos not yet watched (the symbolic antagonism), but inevitably once one of these suggested videos iswatched, more videos are suggested. With the selection of a suggestion only eliciting more; a lazy,consumerist, technological evocation of Sisyphus' boulder. This is seen also when shopping online, there isa continual parade of related products that one has not yet considered but could possibly purchased. n thecase of social media, it is not only about how many friends and followers one attains, but who one is not yetfollowing, a perpetual presence of symbolic antagonism. This antagonism however, is in no way limited toconsumable technology, but rather, is present in all facets of modern life and is seen throughout exo-, endo-and holosabsurd experiences.As such, to create is to actualise the symbolic value of an antagonistic conflict, not to negate or defeat it.This self manufactured conflict is something that can be attributed to a nausea, to a socioculturalresistance, or to a dead end job, it is as Frankl noted, the perceived notion of a condition that literally altersthe perception of a situation (2011). The translation and manifestation of this turmoil into something that canbe shared is only to communicate one's personal absurdity from that perspective; it is not a definitivedeclaration or teaching that can be ascribed to others. As such the creation is a depiction of a subjectiveexperience of an absurd existence, any attempt to define the universal conditions of absurdity is futile. nessence because the absurd is something created from one single perspective it can not be directly shared,but because the symptoms of the absurd have a universality they can transgress a personal dialogue andhold an adjacency with a nararativsed character or expressive creation.n this re-establishment of the necessity of creativity, it may seem to now be defined as an act of futility, butcreativity is still an act of paradoxical optimism, this is due to the fact that as one creates in the adversarypresence of absurdity, it is apparent that there is a present acceptance and consciousness of suffering, andthat preferential attitude perfectly enables a limitless authentic creation and existence. t is through oneslucidity that one is victorious (Camus, 1979), a priori to this victory the deprivation of meaning through a lackof context, i.e. the as of yet uncreated subjective absurd condition, is to engage a motive and desire forreason, to sculpt a context through creativity of an appropriate absurdity, thus the creativity becomes aprism through which one may experience all the peripheral nuances and fleeting moments of existence, in aretrospective sense, and it is in this sense that creativity can be used as a tool to actively participate andengage in ones own absurdity, the true authentic existence.ReferencesBenjamin, Walter. 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