Written by: Norah Lama - 23060, Grade XII
Posted on: 13 July, 2022
The Guggenheim Museum selected Can't Help Myself, its first robotic piece, in 2016. The piece was made by two of China's most renowned artists, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, and is represented as a robotic arm with a single, eternal purpose,to keep the constantly flowing, deep-red liquid that resembles blood from straying too far. The robot repeatedly moves the liquid back into place by dragging its cleaner across the floor in precise, almost dance-like movements, never appearing to stop. The robot leaves stains of the liquid on the floor, the walls, and even itself in an attempt to clean up the growing mess, but this only makes things worse. This caused the robot to significantly slow down, and in 2019, it was disconnected as a result. In the end, the robot was powerless to resist.
The art piece unexpectedly went viral in November 2021 on the well-known video-sharing app TikTok. Short videos of the robot arm attempting to carry out its lifelong task were occasionally viewed more than 50 million times and led viewers to have significant emotional responses. Users felt really sorry for the robot and its completely meaningless existence since its previously fluent movements had become rusty over time. It looks so tired and unmotivated," and "Why can't we just let it rest?" were among the countless and widely liked comments.
Known for their radical installations and contemporary concept artworks, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu are two of China's most popular painters . Most of their works, which are frequently seen as being quite aggressive and provocative, deal with issues related to death, perspective, and the human experience.
One may say that the robot Can't Help Myself encourages us to think about topics like monitoring, border control, and autocracy. The artwork "is intended to reflect governments' attempts to use equipment and technological advancements in the field of science in order to preserve themselves and their country," according to Tara McCullough (2020). Governments in autocratic nations employ equipment and try to cut surveillance technologies to prevent citizens from fleeing those nations. In Can't Help Myself, the robot stands in for these governments, and the blood-like liquid for the citizens who, after trying to flee, are forced back into their conservative communities. The artwork also portrays the suffering faced by immigrants who are turned away and sent back to their country of origin by governments maintaining its borders. Immigrants desire so badly to start a new life in a foreign country. As the robot completes its duty, smudges of a substance that resembles blood are left behind, representing the violence that takes place in border regions.
