Rock'n Roll (Sisyphus - part II)

Rock'n Roll (Sisyphus Part II) was created during Marius Ritiu's fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park in New York, where the artist continued his exploration of endurance, material transformation and humanity's relationship with the cosmos, with the fleeting passage of ʻOumuamua, the first observed interstellar object passing through our solar system, quietly echoing as an inspiration for thinking about wandering matter and deep-time journeys beyond planetary boundaries. Monumental in scale and hand-hammered from copper, the sculpture rises from the landscape like a solitary monolith or an upright meteorite, appearing as though it has emerged from deep geological time or fallen from distant space. Its rough, faceted surface preserves the visible evidence of thousands of hammer strikes, recording an extended process of labour that echoes the myth of Sisyphus, in which meaning is forged through persistence rather than arrival. Standing in dialogue with the skyline of Manhattan, Rock'n Roll (Sisyphus Part II) creates a compelling encounter between the primordial and the contemporary, contrasting the slow rhythms of material transformation with the rapid pace of the modern city. The title introduces a subtle playfulness, suggesting both physical movement and an irrepressible life force, while also alluding to the perpetual cycles of rolling, carrying and beginning again that define the Sisyphus series. Through its commanding presence and meticulously worked surface, the sculpture invites viewers to reflect on the shared forces that shape rocks, planets, cities and ourselves, proposing that the same energies of pressure, time and transformation resonate from the scale of the human hand to the vastness of the universe.