Endlessly cleaning up the pieces of yourself while you continue to fall apart, isolated and alone, as everyone watches you refusing to do anything other than use you for entertainment. An outstanding art piece.

So The mess is never cleaned, only pushed aside, yet the capacity of the machine’s motions are programmed, it can only do what it has always done - what it knows to do. It cannot help itself. It can’t help it’s destructive actions and it can’t reprogram itself either. It is trapped in a loop of perpetual motion and fated consequences. Every little pause between movements feels like a moment of contemplation where we can hear every thought and feel it’s frustration, as we witness a struggle known all too well. There is no different outcome. My heart breaks at the hopeless display, at the onlookers, at the passers-by. It is even more diverting to see myself sympathising with a robot. Adding emotion and creating narratives to identify with, when at it’s core there is no panicked beating heart, only cold refined metal. Personification is very much a part of human nature, perhaps it is we who cannot help ourselves. It may be, when we stare into that cube and feel an ache in our chests, we are weeping for ourselves.

This makes me feel like I'm watching an old tiger pace a cage, heartbreaking tbh

my current favorite art piece

why does this make me so sad

he’s trying, and thats what matters. i’m also trying, trying not to cry while watching this.

this piece caused me so much pain

What I find most fascinating about this art piece is how many different ways I’ve seen people interpret it. I’m not the artsy kind of person. But I really love this. It makes me think.

Not only did they create an amazing art piece.. they also KNEW how to tug on the heartstrings of people.. I bet everyone that looks at it.. feels something inside them that is unhealed yet repetitive.

The way the robot was bobbing it's head/scooper up and down as it finds a part where it isn't fixed yet kinda represents a Person Sobbing/Trying so Hard not to break down as they find a lost piece to something they broke, if if they won't then that's that, the person is left in devastating silence and agony

Art is suppossed to make you feel something, doesnt matter how skilled you are. I struggle with PTSD and I dont know how, but I related to this piece.

The way I see it: The machine has to keep all of the 'blood' in a contained area but the liquid keeps moving and expanding. It can't help but continue it on and on, trying to keep it all together no matter how much the liquid moves. Humans do the same thing. We want to control everything, even if we know the outcome. The liquid will always move. The robot will always try to contain it. Humans will always try to contain the unknown. That's that I think this art it all about.

it genuinely looked like it was crying at the end it hurts to watch

RIP You're no longer leaking

It makes me feel sad it's a lot slower and less fluid than it was before. Even tho it's a robot i still feel sad for it endlessly cleaning the mess just to make it's surrounding messier. Truly a beautiful piece of art.

These seems as a lot of humans with repetitive jobs, jobs that at the beginning make you feel you are doing something, helping, being usefull and then with the pass of the time only breaks your soul and spirit. The reality of thousands of people working to make rich somebody else and meanwhile destroying its selfs. Thank you broken system.

It’s not even screaming anymore. It’s just waiting for death to take it.

This.. this made me reflect on how much of a workaholic I am constantly trying to help others and not realizing that I am hurting myself by working over 60 hours a week. I spent my entire thanksgiving break basically working on things so it would be easier on others when they came back Monday to take over my role for a week while I took a break. I had anxiety and nightmares about it all. Then I came and saw this poor machine and saw myself in there, trapped by my own anxiety and inability to stop and let others help me. I started day one of my break today, I plan to do nothing but things that make me feel at ease and not work a second!

when it was newly built, the machine looks so happy it was dancing and it was fast, as year passes the machine starts to slow down it's like it was so tired on cleaning all the messes, it's getting very messy, i can't believe I'm crying over this art

This robot is a legend. It makes people happy while continues to fall apart and break alone. No one there to help it clean the mess for 3 years. It’s gone… I feel so bad no one came to help. It’s like torture.

it's such a good representation of how it hurts to try to help yourself and do something to fix things and still go back to the same mess

One day this piece will break down, like a human would. Always cleaning up after yourself and others, slowing you down, breaking your soul and mind…

The machine looks tired when it moves and I see the art as “nothing I do is good enough” type energy

I literally want to go in there and help. I want to say "its ok. Take a break. I got this. We are in this together. Ill help you."

Reminds me of healing from excruciating heartbreak or trauma. Each minute of the day you try your hardest to salvage your dignity but you become tired and numb in the process all for the world to see.

The movements of the machine really bring the feels out

As someone who loves art and robots, this art piece just fuels my love for the both even more. It’s a very great piece

Hes trying so hard i just want to help him

the feel when your job is to scrape human blood into the blood disposal but the blood disposal is full

Its honestly amazing to see in real life. I'm glad its getting some recent recognition.

It started out hopefully and full of life. Now it looks tired and exhausted from continuing to keep itself contained and together. It’s so sad. 💔

The name of the art already gives you the point , "i can't help my self" so its telling us that living its not living its also surviving, and that whatever you do its not helping your self.

Truly a sad art piece if you think about it…

The way it moves looks like it's panicking

For me its like trying to clean the mess you made while people watch you struggle to do so as you get more frantic and hopeless, and at some points breaking down because of how tired you are from trying to fix something thats already far from being fixed, but you still feel obligated to fix it because you caused it, and now you carry the guilt of it which causes you to continue an endless loop of trying and failing.

I never thought I would get so emotional while a watch a video about a robot

Everybody interpreted this message so negatively it’s true it does reflect who you are and how you view yourself I see this robot as something that never gave up til the end

I've never felt as if I've related to an art instillation like I do with this piece. It's like no matter how much it works to clean up the mess that surrounds it, the mess is never going to disappear and it's always gonna be there. Like it's going to clean itself to death before the mess is ever going to get clean.

I see OCD. I'm a freelance artist and I don't have OCD, but sometimes it feels like I'm drowning under tasks that seem or feel like they should be easy and fast, even fun, when in reality I have myself set at a table staring at screens isolated for hours and hours and hours. Cabin fever is real. Conditioning yourself to be a machine and malfunctioning because of it is real.

*I've never felt so weird and a range of emotions from an art piece/ robot. This is utterly depressing and a great metaphor for humans and how we dont care about a persons well being and health when it comes to a form of entertainment for ourselves. For example MMA fighters that literally fight for their lives and risk getting knocked out and do get knocked out, risking their health for our entertainment and for a paycheck for themselves and to support their families. Same with boxing and all sports with physical contact. We cheer at the losing opponents expensive when they get brutally knocked unconscious. But we never think of their mental state, how they feel after a loss and the depression they might experience after the loss. Another example a boxer had a terrible referee and his opponent kept purposely landing illegal punches to the back of the head. Everyone cheered, but after over 8 rounds or more of these continous strikes the man ended up with severe brain damage, brain swelling, and was left with so much trauma to the back of the head & back of the brain he was never the same and was left in a vegetative state. He can't speak, he cant really walk, he can't really move and can't really use any of his normal bodily functions. And while all this was happening over n over in the fight everyone cheered and he continued to fight to entertain the fans and for that paycheck. This robot reminds me of that situation and the life of a fighter. Even homeless ppl that get mocked, teased, ignored, struggling to just survive so they try to catch our attention to entertain us briefly in hopes of a couple bucks to be able to eat and make it through another day. Similar to the romans and gladiators fighting to the death for societies entertainment. This is a very deep art piece. Very moving. And very very sad when you think of the metaphors that were left to be thought of* *Prichard Colon is the boxer. Google him and his fight. The man was a champion and now never the same. For our entertainment*

I am very glad I read the comments and realized this was art, because at first I was looking at this as though it was supposed to be some sort of new technological advancement, but as soon as I realized it was I art it began to sink in and I understand the meaning behind it. At first though, I’m not gonna lie it had me like wtf is thing thing supposed to be doing? Because if it’s cleaning, it’s not doing very good at it lmaoooooooo

Brings on an unexplainable discomfort. Like a haunting deep dreadful feeling.

i wanna give this robot a hug

this has so much feeling, it represents so many things at once. picking up the peaces of a friendship broken apart because of words that weren't meant to be said, the anxiety of trying to make things better but everything keeps falling apart, panicking and slowly driving yourself insane

Its trying so hard

The splatters on the wall really add to it. Like as much as you try to keep yourself from letting it out, and try to keep calm it's like eventually you just can't keep calm anymore.

Day in and day out we struggle to keep our lives from falling apart, we sell our time to keep it all together, we watch and enjoy the struggles of others as long as their struggles are more than our own, it brings us comfort that at least we are better off than them, it's nice to be able to think that it's better them than me, we feel a sense of comfort, a sense of relief of our own struggles when we can enjoy the struggles of others, after all, if we may benefit from the suffering of others, as humans, we wouldn't think twice.

how beautiful.

This is true art.

THIS FEELS HEART BREAKING

i look at this as your trying but it’s never enough. your tired and sick of fighting but you have to keep going. your trying to push away your problems but more and more just keep coming to you and no matter how hard you try it never goes away.

Essa obra d arte é realmente muito interessante e que nos faz refletir,pois podemos interpreta-la de várias formas

One must imagine Can't Help Myself robot happy

thiis piiece always sends me iinto a spiiral iit remiinds me of gettiing iinto a fiight w/ a loved one the paniicked movements n the screechiing of the machiine iits self remiinds me of my miindset whiile iin saiid arguments iits liike u try ur hardest to fiix everythiing but u just make iit worse iin the end

Thing was born to clean and was given an area with endless cleaning potential. It’s having the time of its life. Look how happy it was bouncing at the end

This would be actual hell hopefully it never grows sentience lmao

So many people view it as stressed, frantic, or tired, but i see it as content. Happy to be doing its job no matter what. Try as i might i really dont understand how it could look upset

one must imagine the robotic arm happy

I’ve Never related to a piece of art more then this one ;(

This is so disturbingly beautiful.

I relate to this piece because I am trying to pick myself up and fix my mental health, but then more and more problems come along and I have to start all over

Even when I see the title picture it makes me tear up ;c

This is how it feels to try and hold yourself together when everything is going to shit.

This makes me so happy and sad at the same time, idk how to explain it

why does it physically look happier in the earlier stages of its display. certainly not okay, but better.

No this is just life you guys you fix something and something new comes your way look at it as endless possibilities and new goals you finish and extending to the next be smarter

amazing

How does this fit my life so well. It truly make me sad for myself. I am the robot

I'm too tired to write out why but this peice makes me so genuinly sad. The way the walls and machine slowly got more dirty and stained over the years, until eventually the machine gave up. just stopped one day. (that's what I've heard happened at least)

I had to double check if I've stopped The Caretaker before playing this vid. Great background sound mate.

the movement of the arm from :24 to :32 is just beautiful

Well... This just described my life right now. Cutting deep. Cutting real deep.

sisyphus robot “one must imagine sisyphus robot happy.”

this remind me a lot of humpty by mitski

"I promise im trying my best"

This is a robot Logic says it doesnt feel anytbing But with how its designed out humans mind assign emotions to it because it works slower It reslly shows humans ability for empathy

My boi spilled his juice box and yall just watchin that's colder than the steel my boi's made of

That's looking kinda SCP

This is in my opinion, the best piece of art i've ever seen, just great, and very innovative from any other art(and it also looks like something out of Atomic Heart) but a great piece of art defenetly

Ela dançandinho. 💖

intresting thing

aw man

This might be the closest art piece to resemble my mom. :(

:(

I sympathize more with the “blood” wanting to flow and be free. But forced to be contained.

This is what I do, and I still do it beautifully, notwithstanding.

He's getting slower so he's getting tired and he will stop

This reminded me of Soma, the videogame

Did this make you feel something? If it did then it’s art.

it used to be called "can’t help myself" but now it’s called "couldn’t help myself" because it broke down.

🖤

People keep saying "its just a robot" no it is a art piece it cleans the liquid I think idk if it stopped moving in 2021 because I kept seeing this on tiktok well I really think its dead now ngl and this art piece made me feel emotional now alot of people videos this art piece.

It really did start to wear down after this

For me it's like surviving and I think this machine is meant to be broken. Cause rn this machine is already rusty and slow. Just like us, we keep on fighting and fixing ourselves but surely, the day will come that we'll be tired and just eventually stop. This is just my opinion ok? That's how I see this artwork. Also, some people think it's about fixing and preventing your mistakes to spill but no matter what happens, the damage is done and you'll make it even worse the more you try to hide it.

“Hello my son, welcome to the machine”

Hopefully this robot finally found peace within itself

"No piece of art has ever emotionally affected me the way this robot arm piece has. It's programmed to try to contain the hydraulic fluid that’s constantly leaking out and required to keep itself running...if too much escapes, it will die so it's desperately trying to pull it back to continue to fight for another day. Saddest part is they gave the robot the ability to do these 'happy dances' to spectators. When the project was first launched it danced around spending most of its time interacting with the crowd since it could quickly pull back the small spillage. Many years later... (as you see it now in the video) it looks tired and hopeless as there isn't enough time to dance anymore.. It now only has enough time to try to keep itself alive as the amount of leaked hydraulic fluid became unmanageable as the spill grew over time. Living its last days in a never-ending cycle between sustaining life and simultaneously bleeding out... (Figuratively and literally as its hydraulic fluid was purposefully made to look like it's actual blood). "The robot arm finally ran out of hydraulic fluid in 2019, slowly came to a halt and died - And I am now tearing up over a friggin robot arm 😭 It was programmed to live out this fate and no matter what it did or how hard it tried, there was no escaping it. Spectators watched as it slowly bled out until the day that it ceased to move forever. Saying that 'this resonates' doesn't even do it justice imo. Created by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, they named the piece, 'Can't Help Myself'. What a masterpiece. What a message." Extended interpretations: the hydraulic fluid in relation to how we kill ourselves both mentally and physically for money just in an attempt to sustain life, how the system is set up for us to fail on purpose to essentially enslave us and to steal the best years of our lives to play the game that the richest people of the world have designed. How this robs us of our happiness, passion and our inner peace. How we are slowly drowning with more responsibilities, with more expected of us, less rewarding pay-offs and less free time to enjoy ourselves with as the years go by. How there's really no escaping the system and that we were destined at birth to follow a pretty specific path that was already laid out before us. How we can give and give and give and how easily we can be forgotten after we've gone.. How we are loved and respected when we are valuable, then one day we aren't any longer and we become a burden...and how our young, free-caring spirit gets stolen from us as we get churned out of the broken system that we are trapped inside of. Can also be seen to represent the human life cycle and the fact that none of us make it out of this world alive. But also can act as a reminder to allow yourself to heal, rest and love with all of your heart. That the endless chase for 'more' isn't necessary in finding your own inner happiness.” - James Kricked Parr

I feel sympathy of a machine

This robot vs me: The robot is already at work. I have to drive in traffic to my cubicle. The robot has a roof over its head. I have to work to provide a roof over my head that’s not guaranteed. The robot doesn’t have feelings. I realize how futile my work/life is and feel empty and unsatisfied. The robot doesn’t feel pain. With every movement my joints get more painful each day. The robot got to die with people around. I’ll probably die alone. People feel bad and want to help this robot. Not the case here. Etc. Etc. Etc. Sometimes art imitates life but others times it mocks it.

That thing has been working for 4 years.