Can’t Help Myself Art: Unveiling Its Meaning and Emotional Depth
Robotic art at exhibitions has sparked heated debate over messages, hidden truths, and quality. Su Yan and Peng Yu exhibited a piece in Venice in 2016, “Can’t Help Myself,” that has sparked ongoing discussion.
The mechanized hand brush in a glass box repeatedly washes a dark red liquid beneath itself. The physics of this technique entails showing the solution's surface tension as well as the adhesive-cohesive feature of fluidity. However, the scientific component is occasionally foreign to modern philosophers. It is far more valuable to seek hidden meanings and conjectures.
This post will explain what's concealed beneath the cycle of brush strokes and how contemporary artists interpret the installation's meaning.
The mechanized hand brush in a glass box repeatedly washes a dark red liquid beneath itself. The physics of this technique entails showing the solution's surface tension as well as the adhesive-cohesive feature of fluidity. However, the scientific component is occasionally foreign to modern philosophers. It is far more valuable to seek hidden meanings and conjectures.
This post will explain what's concealed beneath the cycle of brush strokes and how contemporary artists interpret the installation's meaning.
robotic art
Daryna Markova
contributor DOM Art Residence
Mar 24, 2025
Endless Struggle:
The Core of Can't Help Myself
Provocative art has been on an upward trajectory during the past two decades, from Nigerian painters protecting their national history to neo-avant-garde designers utilizing robots and other technical wonders. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu are China's representatives among modern controversial artists. They are renowned for their daring installations and diverse concepts. The majority of their works address questions of death, perception, and the human condition. Critics regard their works as highly combative and controversial.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu well-known works encompass the project Old People's Home (2008), in which 13 hyper-realistic sculptures of elderly global leaders continuously roam within a small room in electric wheelchairs, and Dogs Which Cannot Touch Each Other (2003), in which eight dogs are chained to treadmills and is limited to moving forward.
The artists' initial desire to test what could replace Sun Yuan and Peng Yu when developing a work, as well as how they could do so with a machine, inspired their decision to use a robot. They modified an automated arm, which is commonly used in factory processes such as those in car manufacturing, by adding a custom-designed shovel to the front.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu worked with two mechanical experts to build a set of thirty-two actions for the machine to complete. This is how the path to the composition “Can’t Help Myself” began.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu well-known works encompass the project Old People's Home (2008), in which 13 hyper-realistic sculptures of elderly global leaders continuously roam within a small room in electric wheelchairs, and Dogs Which Cannot Touch Each Other (2003), in which eight dogs are chained to treadmills and is limited to moving forward.
The artists' initial desire to test what could replace Sun Yuan and Peng Yu when developing a work, as well as how they could do so with a machine, inspired their decision to use a robot. They modified an automated arm, which is commonly used in factory processes such as those in car manufacturing, by adding a custom-designed shovel to the front.
Sun Yuan and Peng Yu worked with two mechanical experts to build a set of thirty-two actions for the machine to complete. This is how the path to the composition “Can’t Help Myself” began.
First Step:
Dogs Which Cannot Touch Each Other
Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other is a startling video installation by Chinese artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, which premiered in 2003 at an obscure local event. It was eventually displayed at the Guggenheim Museum in 2017.
The sculpture is a striking metaphor for human disagreements, systematic oppression, and how political systems provoke collision without resolution. It addresses ways cultures produce aggression, whether through geopolitics, ideological wars, or even the entertainment industry.
While preventing ultimate encounter or escape. In the context of contemporary Chinese art, it further represents the conflict between individual agency and state-imposed limitations.
Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other has sparked widespread outrage, with animal rights advocates condemning it as cruel, prompting its demise from the Guggenheim Museum.
The sculpture is a striking metaphor for human disagreements, systematic oppression, and how political systems provoke collision without resolution. It addresses ways cultures produce aggression, whether through geopolitics, ideological wars, or even the entertainment industry.
While preventing ultimate encounter or escape. In the context of contemporary Chinese art, it further represents the conflict between individual agency and state-imposed limitations.
Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other has sparked widespread outrage, with animal rights advocates condemning it as cruel, prompting its demise from the Guggenheim Museum.
Second Step:
Old People's Home
Old People’s Home consists of thirteen life-size animatronic figures of elderly people seated in motorized wheelchairs, moving slowly around the exhibition space in a ghostly, aimless choreography. The wheelchairs move unpredictably:
This mechanical choreography serves a clear purpose and represents how power systems continually modify their effectiveness, prolonging cycles of inertia and deterioration.
The individuals, some of whom resemble historical people such as Pope John Paul II, transform into hideous portraits of great figures whose legacy has faded. Nevertheless, their existence lives on in a ridiculous, campy afterlife.
Old People's Home has a thoroughly unsettling aesthetic, building on the long history of hyperrealistic sculpture introduced by artists such as Duane Hanson and Ronald Mueck. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, on the other hand, infuse their figures with frightening agency, blurring the line between life and death with artificial movement.
This combination of the biological and the machine adds to the work's philosophical weight, implying a political environment dominated by characters who can no longer represent real authority and still nonetheless occupy space, both literally and metaphorically.
- crash into each other,
- turn around,
- driven by someone,
- inducing a sense of discomfort.
This mechanical choreography serves a clear purpose and represents how power systems continually modify their effectiveness, prolonging cycles of inertia and deterioration.
The individuals, some of whom resemble historical people such as Pope John Paul II, transform into hideous portraits of great figures whose legacy has faded. Nevertheless, their existence lives on in a ridiculous, campy afterlife.
Old People's Home has a thoroughly unsettling aesthetic, building on the long history of hyperrealistic sculpture introduced by artists such as Duane Hanson and Ronald Mueck. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, on the other hand, infuse their figures with frightening agency, blurring the line between life and death with artificial movement.
This combination of the biological and the machine adds to the work's philosophical weight, implying a political environment dominated by characters who can no longer represent real authority and still nonetheless occupy space, both literally and metaphorically.
Technical Base for Powerful Art
How can the atmosphere be conveyed using a robot? It is not enough to fill it with the philosophical questions of Jacques Fresco. Foremost, you need knowledge of technology. We will tell you about which of them were used in the creation of “Can’t Help Myself” in the material below.
How Does the Machine Work?
Let's take a look at "Can't Help Myself" from the perspective of robot fundamentals and physics. The installation is a machine system that comprises a hydraulically powered manipulator, a control system, sensors, and a peristaltic fluid collection mechanism.
Thus, the robot operating algorithm can be described as follows: spill area definition, planning (RRT subfunction), liquid capture, and cycle repetition. Stochastic motion models are available for boosting expressiveness.
- The robot used is a hydraulic manipulator with six axes (6 DOF). It is fixed to a stationary platform that cannot move in space while having rotational freedom at the base. At the end of the machine, a broad scraper is attached to capture and move liquid.
- Computer vision and lidar are used to track the location and identify spill boundaries. Cameras capture the distribution of liquid on the surface. The software examines the pictures and highlights areas by shape (using a color segmentation algorithm and HSV filtering).
- The controller calculates the manipulator's ideal trajectory. Hydraulic drives adjust the joints to help the scraper catch the liquid as efficiently as feasible. Following each activity, the system analyses the surface coating sector by field, repeating the process on every single piece.
Thus, the robot operating algorithm can be described as follows: spill area definition, planning (RRT subfunction), liquid capture, and cycle repetition. Stochastic motion models are available for boosting expressiveness.
Fluid Physics and Why It Made the Installation Work So Well?
The red fluid has a higher viscosity than water, allowing it to stay on the surface longer and produce a "blood stain" impression. When the scraper moves, the law of conservation of mass takes effect: the liquid is partially collected, however, a portion unavoidably spreads again.
The density of a fluid controls its surface tension, which is why it generates complicated patterns and splashes.
It is certainly a Newtonian fluid, considering its viscosity fails to change dramatically when subjected to forces. However, pseudo-plasticity additions are feasible, such as water mixed with glycerin, gaur gum, or polyacrylates.
The liquid is collected by a mechanized arm and drained by peristaltic pumps, which work by compressing malleable tubes with rollers in succession, producing a flow that doesn't come in contact with the pump systems. This decision made it feasible to express the oppression of the deadly patterns together with the cyclical nature of the ongoing warfare.
The density of a fluid controls its surface tension, which is why it generates complicated patterns and splashes.
It is certainly a Newtonian fluid, considering its viscosity fails to change dramatically when subjected to forces. However, pseudo-plasticity additions are feasible, such as water mixed with glycerin, gaur gum, or polyacrylates.
The liquid is collected by a mechanized arm and drained by peristaltic pumps, which work by compressing malleable tubes with rollers in succession, producing a flow that doesn't come in contact with the pump systems. This decision made it feasible to express the oppression of the deadly patterns together with the cyclical nature of the ongoing warfare.
Symbolism and Hidden Messages
“Can't Help Myself” challenges the role of machines in modern life. As computers, algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI) learn and develop more independently, their relationship with humans may adapt. Such concerns have been discussed in film and literature for decades. In the novel series "Robots," the great Isaac Asimov presented three principles.
They encompassed a hidden zero rule, that led society to question the soundness of cybernetics' progress. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu rethought the foundations, adding a new item, liquid, and lowering ML.
They encompassed a hidden zero rule, that led society to question the soundness of cybernetics' progress. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu rethought the foundations, adding a new item, liquid, and lowering ML.
Therefore, the “Can’t Help Myself” machine represents these governments, and the bloodlike liquid represents their citizens, who are forcefully swept back into their non-free countries after trying to escape. Migrants who badly wish to start a new life in an unknown nation face rejection and diplomatic harassment.
Diplomatic and terrorist border controls restrict the ability to flee and live. The fear of being killed and becoming a murderer. This is one of the qualities that the robot brings about as it stains the wall with additional dark red liquid.
Diplomatic and terrorist border controls restrict the ability to flee and live. The fear of being killed and becoming a murderer. This is one of the qualities that the robot brings about as it stains the wall with additional dark red liquid.
The Legacy of Can't Help Myself
"Can't Help Myself" is a trigger for breaking cultural expectations and standards. Questioning the current quotes and going on an expedition that will allow you to truly live. Other than that, what is life? The chain of events from birth to death is rich with occurrences, and blood runs like a river. Just 24 minutes in human history have gone without warfare or murder.
The media's influence on such topics is ambiguous. Some people simply enjoy witnessing the manifestation of physical rules in reality. Philosophers prefer to comprehend the underlying messages and themes that the authors intended to express. The defenders of children from the outside world will express concerns about brutality and extremely repressive perceptions, which can lead to despair.
Highlighting severe social concerns via demonstrative approaches (music, art, installations) is rarely well accepted by the community at the center of events. Furthermore, the democratic world, which defends the rights of freedom and helps humanity, is unable to tolerate the authors' modes of expression.
Ana F. Martin, a photographer, argues: "Contemporary art does not feel universal anymore. And its inherent link with large sums of money, as well as its sequestered, elitist nature, have made the public wary and distrustful of modern artists. Ways of their expression resulted in a hostile relationship that appears tough to salvage."
The media's influence on such topics is ambiguous. Some people simply enjoy witnessing the manifestation of physical rules in reality. Philosophers prefer to comprehend the underlying messages and themes that the authors intended to express. The defenders of children from the outside world will express concerns about brutality and extremely repressive perceptions, which can lead to despair.
Highlighting severe social concerns via demonstrative approaches (music, art, installations) is rarely well accepted by the community at the center of events. Furthermore, the democratic world, which defends the rights of freedom and helps humanity, is unable to tolerate the authors' modes of expression.
Ana F. Martin, a photographer, argues: "Contemporary art does not feel universal anymore. And its inherent link with large sums of money, as well as its sequestered, elitist nature, have made the public wary and distrustful of modern artists. Ways of their expression resulted in a hostile relationship that appears tough to salvage."
Can’t Help Myself, But Who Helps?
Everything that begins has to expire. In 2019, the robot "Can't Help Myself" ceased spinning the platform, gathering all the liquid due to the corrosive influence. And what are the philosophical implications? All that is required is for someone to assist in replacing what has been damaged.
The comparison between the rescue service and the residences devastated by missiles is obvious: aid will arrive. What if this is a person's inner world? In this instance, the individual may benefit himself, get out of the series: leave, see a psychologist, speak up to friends over a glass of beer at a bar or to a loved one when he returns home from work.
According to Asimov's laws of machinery, a robot with feelings is impossible. Office clerks demonstrate the contrary. People desire social interaction, communication, and communication. Unfortunately, ideological conflicts in politics result in wars. Say whatever you want since art, first and foremost, is about freedom of speech!
The comparison between the rescue service and the residences devastated by missiles is obvious: aid will arrive. What if this is a person's inner world? In this instance, the individual may benefit himself, get out of the series: leave, see a psychologist, speak up to friends over a glass of beer at a bar or to a loved one when he returns home from work.
According to Asimov's laws of machinery, a robot with feelings is impossible. Office clerks demonstrate the contrary. People desire social interaction, communication, and communication. Unfortunately, ideological conflicts in politics result in wars. Say whatever you want since art, first and foremost, is about freedom of speech!
