Categories
new

I learned to play piano on the internet

The illusory world of self-optimization and self-realization
seems to have no limits on social media and burns itself
into our subconscious which increases inner insecurity. We bring the imparted half-knowledge into conversations, allow ourselves to be influenced by superficial opinions and thus become the robots of the data monopoly that is constantly outstripping itself.

The constant overflow of information results in overthinking. As if the head were constantly banging against the wall, it should reflect an almost painful movement of despair. To illustrate this desperation, i let a randomly moving “robot” roll on the ground like a crying child. The sounds of the engine reminds of a subtle screeching scream.


In order to visualize this chaotic overthinking i made use
of an mechanism i found in a cat toy. For the first experiment
i attached my hairs to one side of the hemisphere of
this exact toy to include a physical connection to my body. The placement on the grand piano creates this nonsense pattern of
sound, no control and no harmony.
The movement only comes to rest when the battery is
empty, while the battery symbolizes the battery of the devices themselves as well as our battery of stamina.

2021
8,5 x 8,5 x 8,5 cm
Real hair, cat toy, acrylic lacquer, acrylic paint
grand piano

Categories
existing

Can’t Help Myself

Sun Yuan and Peng Yu

Sun Yuan, b. 1972, Beijing; Peng Yu, b. 1974, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, China

The nothingness of life mirrored in a programmed sequence of movements. Ever more hopeless, slower and “looking older”, the robotic arm erected by the artist couple Sun Yuan & Peng Yu in the Guggenheim New York has been assembling its blood-like life fluid since 2016. It is not without reason that people find themselves in the repetitive ‘lifestyle’ of this ignorant object.

The installation “Can’t Help Myself” offers space for reflection on our everyday life and penetrates to the question of the meaning of life. She combines birth, life and death in a playful way until the initially energetic and organic arm comes to a standstill in 2019. After such a long time of fighting, the arm seems to be coming to an end after all the exhaustion. The unease triggered by voyeurism leaves emotional traces in visitors, despite its lack of emotion.

“No piece of art has ever emotionally affected me the way this robot arm piece has. […] The arm slowly came to a halt and died in 2019, but with a twist – the bot, called a kuka servo, actually runs off of electricity, not hydraulics, so it was working its entire life towards something it didn’t even need, tricked by the system it was brought into. So now I’m crying over a robot 😭” comments the musician Kricked.


“According to the artists, the robot provokes an absurd, Sisyphusian view of current issues related to migration and sovereignty. The bloodstains collected in the cage are intended to remind of the violence resulting from surveillance and guarding of border areas.”

Releases:

loosetooth.com, Dec 02, 2021, https://www.loosetooth.com/blog/can-t-help-myself-by-sun-yuan-peng-yu

Guggenheim.com, 2016, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/34812

Classenfahrt, Fabian Fröhlich & ilbolive / Stefano Gueraldi, 2019, https://www.classenfahrt.de/artikel/bcanrt-help-myselfl-(2016)-444/