More about Sisyphus and Jacob Meet by the Well

Contributor

In 2000, Sigalit Landau began making sculptural installations with life-size, skinless people doing various tasks. 

She first made these out of paper mache from newspapers, and then dyed the exposed muscles and flesh red... kind of like that traveling show of skinless bodies back in 2005. This sculpture is made out of bronze, and even though there is no blood, it's still creepy!

In this piece, Landau cleverly created a collaboration between Sisyphus, who took pleasure in killing people, as a way to rule with an iron fist, and the romantic shepherd Jacob who, upon meeting Rachel, lifted the immense rock that covered her well; both got into trouble with the Gods.

Sisyphus was punished in the afterlife to push a huge boulder uphill, only to watch it roll back down just before it reached the top, repeatedly. That is why 'Sisyphean' means useless efforts. Jacob was punished for his trickery and God gave him a limp. Now they're both pushing Sisyphus' boulder by Jacob's well, united in arm day for life.