Can't Help Myself

In this exhibit, a mechanical arm was designed to accomplish a singular task- to sweep the dark red liquid in a perfect circle. The liquid, as expected, doesn't remain in that perfect circle; every time the robot gets close to accomplishing this task the liquid seeps out of place, distorting the puddle. It's an impossible task. The robotic contraption, as can be seen by the picture, is encased in a room with glass windows where visitors can view the robots. After a certain amount of time this mechanical arm pauses its mission to perform certain gestures, almost like a dance. The arm waves about, interacts with visitors, and does various other motions that give it an almost humanlike demeanor.

This exhibit was on display for a total of three years. The robot started out by demonstrating upbeat and hopeful mannerisms, working hard to do its job. As the years went on, it seemed to become more drained, frustrated, and desperate. It appeared as if the years spent trying to futilely complete this task had taken a toll on the robot. Despite it only being a mechanical contraption, the robot's human mannerisms stirred up emotions in its observers. This humanlike behavior made the robot seem to have a personality and display signs of distress like a person would in that situation. At the end of three years, the mechanical arm "died," finally relieved of its duty to shape the red liquid in a clean-cut circle.

An observer may consider the red liquid to be a representation of blood, creating a dark atmosphere over the exhibit. In the past, blood was said to be associated with black bile. Early philosophers and physicians determined that melancholy stemmed from an imbalance of black bile, one of the four humors that made up the human body. If any one of the humors were out of balance, it would upset the body and in return illness would befall the bearer of the uneven humors. In the instance of this exhibit, the machine was trying to contain the liquid (which can be viewed to represent a bodily humor) in a circle but it kept spilling out unevenly across the floor. From the perspective of an ancient philosopher or physician, such as Aristotle or Galen, they would determine that this machine was experiencing melancholy from the imbalance of humors due to the red liquid spilling out of it, clearly at an imbalance.

This piece relates the concept of melancholy to surrounding the pressures that are impressed upon society today. The robot is trapped in a room that seems vaguely like a cubicle, but with no doors. It has its assigned job, with a set goal that it's supposed to accomplish. All the machine did was its job, working its "life" away, with the occasional interruption when it interacted with the viewers. The years passed and it progressively began displaying movements mimicking someone when they're frustrated or defeated. It matched how a person would react if there was a task they had to do endlessly, never getting closer to reaching their goal. Near the end of its "life," the machine appeared far more animal-like, acting out as if it were trapped in a cage. For those that had the chance to view this contraption, they would probably agree that the machine, if alive, was experiencing a severe case of melancholy. An onlooker even stated that they could imagine the relief the machine would have felt when it finally stopped working if it actually had emotions. This follows along the lines of Teresa of Avila's statement about those afflicted by melancholy "suffer more than death in themselves..." A comparison to this mechanical arm is how people are affected by stressors in the workplace. It's so easy to get burnt out if work isn't balanced out with other activities. This follows up with Ficino, an Italian doctor in the fifteenth century, and his views in Learned People and Melancholy. He explains how the more difficult one's work is, the more effort it requires from the mind, and if the mind is overworked a person can then become melancholy. The machine crossed a line into madness after not being able to accomplish its task and then became burnt out, no longer being able to continue on and finally breaking down after a few years.