This project explores how estrangement transforms into a book and becomes a symbol of political action. The project critically engages with extending the lifespan of an object, specifically how a published, distributed novel becomes hacked through methods of fragmentation in order to outstand political censorship and pressure. It originates from Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus, a book once banned in Taiwan in 1949. Under the historical context, the project develops a layered dissection of structure, content, the characters themselves, and the binding method, creating fragments that gradually lose legibility to preserve the book’s historical performance, access and visibility.

Camus uses the Greek myth—Sisyphus endlessly pushing a rock uphill only to see it roll back down—to reflect on the absurdity of life. In 1949, during the era of censorship in Taiwan, this book was one of the banned books due to its free thought. But people still secretly circulated the books in different ways.

A. author would change the title or their names to get published B. Some people would build reading clubs and secretly transcribe copies of the books C. Someone would break one book into several parts to pass around. D. Someone would use chopsticks to turn the pages to prevent leaving their fingerprints. E. Some translators would insert their own views into footnotes, introductions. My project critically subverts through the reinvigoration of these strategies.

The whole book undergoes a layered dissection invoking the government’s attempt to confiscate the banned books during the censorship period.