Iron metal plate, ping pong table, pendulum, sweeping robots, ping pong paddles, 2023, 150cm*80cm*150cm

The Duel of the Novice Athletes with Zero Basics

What separates humans from other species?

think there are too many answers to this question, some would say “intelligence”, some would say “emotion”, some would say “ability to use tools”, some would say “the ability to use fire”. Machines have been built by humans through several industrial revolutions and used to liberate human productivity, then the old machinery is eliminated because of the need to increase human productivity, and the new machinery waits for the moment of elimination-as if the object or species was created for the moment of elimination, ever cybernetic. But as we humans are liberated from productive action to a certain extent, it seems that the amount of social labor we need to participate in becomes more and more minimal - our slaves, robots and algorithms could even replace our near labor in the future, so what is really running the society and the “human” as an individual in the society at this moment? What is really working in society and as individual human beings at this moment? And what do we rely on to maintain our superiority as a species?

I’m trying to get machines to simulate some of the behaviors that only human beings can perform - for example, the sense of honor that comes from sports competitions - but the absurdity is that this is happening to two sweeping robots - a product that will be obsolete in the near future, and which seems to have been created for a certain “mission”, and which will be bored in their retirement years.

Is it possible that machines are more human than humans, rather than seek immortality and unlimited power?

The Duel

The Duel of the Novice Athletes with Zero Basics explores two sweeping robots created for the convenience of human life in a post-human setting, working long and boring hours for years until they are replaced and abandoned by a new human invention. Having lost their intended role, the discarded robots pick up human civilisation again and begin to learn the exclusively human act of entertainment by attempting to play table tennis.

  • Title

  • The Duel of the Novice Athletes with Zero Basics

  • Year

  • 2023

  • Materials

  •  Iron metal plate, ping pong table, pendulum, sweeping robots, ping pong paddles

  • Dimensions

  • 150cm*80cm*150cm

  • Exhibitions

  • In Tandem, Cookhouse Gallery Chelsea College of Art, London, UK, 2023

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