From the point of an atheist,* life has no intrinsic meaning. From the point of an atheist capable of enjoyment, life does not need to have any intrinsic meaning; they enjoy it, it feels worthwhile to them and there is no need for it to have any kind of objective, measurable value or "mean" something other than what it is. An atheist who has stopped enjoying things will be more likely to fixate on life's "point" or "meaning." Life as it is just seems like a series of events that cause other events until the end; it is all inconsequential in the end. This is where that statement comes from - the one that confuses happy people everywhere - "life has no meaning." If someone has not experienced any kind of enjoyment for a long time and has forgotten about it as a possibility, or remembers the concept but feels it is impossible, life does not only have no intrinsic value; it has no "point" whatsoever. If the "journey" has nothing at the end, and we can't or don't enjoy the journey, what's the journey for?
This thinking seems to basically be the default for someone experiencing lack of fulfilment, at least for the first time. This can include anyone from people with depression who have stopped feeling pleasure to people who have just started their first nine-to-five job and are not enjoying it ("I studied all these years just to go to work and come home over and over again every day until I die").
Since I see this as a default way of thinking for people in a certain situation, it is not something I want to repeat when it has been done so many times before. I've already realised that the piece I'm working on is ridiculously similar to several On Kawara pieces (the work I was familiar with was something else - the "I Got Up" series mentioned below).
On Kawara - I Got Up - 1970
Martin Creed - Work No. 223 - 1999
(After repeatedly venturing back and forth from the state of mind where "life feels meaningless" to the state of mind where "life needs no intrinsic meaning if you're gaining fulfilment," going back to the former point of view is no longer frightening; life FEELS meaningless. It's all just perspective and it's enough to notice that other people are still enjoying it to no longer feel terrified.)
I think the next few things I make will clarify that I'm not making art about counting down to death or about life being futile, and I think maybe people will stop calling me a nihilist. (I might be talking about FINE ART DEGREES feeling futile, and I might also be being hyperbolic.)
*I am only mentioning atheist points of view as non-atheist points of view go into "life after death" as life's "meaning," and this is irrelevant to my point.
