Venezia, Art Biennale 2019

Can’t Help myself, 2016 Sun Yuan and Peng Yu In “Can’t Help Myself“ an industrial robot turns and flexes restlessly in its transparent “cage“, almost like a creature capturesd and placed on display. The robot has been programmed to ensure that a thick, deep red liquid stays within a predetermined area. This blood-like fluid continually oozes away, triggering the robot’s sensors and prompting the machine to shovel it back into place. The artists have “taught“ the robot to perform 32 different movements - from “scratch and itch“ to “ass shake“ - giving it an uncanny, mesmerising human grace. For Sun Yuan and Peng Yu the uncontrollable liquid thet the machine keeps trying to contain conjures what they preserve to be art’s essential elusiveness, its defiant refusal to being pinned down and fixed in place. This work was originally produced for the exhibition “Tales of Our Time“ at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and made possible by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. Camera: Samsung Galaxy S10