Article

Old People's Home

Akira Tatehata

Sun Yuan & Peng Yu's work Old People's Home consists of 13 hyper-realistic, life-sized human replicas of army generals, religious and political leaders of various nationalities, wearing very formal costumes, all sitting in electro-motion wheelchairs. This is a large-scale site-specific installation. The hyper-realistic human replicas in the wheelchairs either stare at something or simply nod their heads or look like they may be taking a nap. The wheelchairs automatically change directions when they collide with each other or with the wall. They are in constant motion, ceaselessly colliding, and their faces are emotionless, thus creating a kind of indifferent and eccentric atmosphere. The replicas represent a group of people who have no direct relationship. The do not talk to each other, so the scene resembles a collective hush, created by people from various cultural, social and racial backgrounds. It indicates the absurdity of the theory that frames an optimistic belief in the possibilities for mutual communication between different cultures or groups based on cultural pluralism. The wrinkles on their faces and the skin textures of their hands give people an extreme impression of trueness, while this kind of trueness is magnified under the meaningless fictional context that dominates the work. So, why choose the figures of elderly people? Maybe they refer to the concepts of both order and death. Although they move very slowly they are never fully motionless. In this powerful work, the duo of artists try to tell us that lack of communication is not du to the irreversibility of death, but is caused by the very structure of society. The metaphors lie in the work are conveyed through the direct reflection on some intrinsic questions.

老人院

建哲

孙原和彭禹的老人院是十三个实际尺寸的仿真人体所创作的作品。在这部作品中，军人统帅和宗教领袖，职业和国籍各不相同的老人们，全都穿着严肃的盛装和民族服装，坐在电动轮椅上缓慢的活动，可以说是一个大规模的、气氛很特别的艺术作品。
他们坐在轮椅上，安详地盯着前方、无力地低着头、还有因疲劳而仰面朝天正在打盹的老人们。轮椅之间发生接触或者是碰到墙壁时，将自动改变前进方向，一声不响地在重复着来来往往的移动，形成一种冷漠的规律。他们不是一群为了说话聊天或讨论事情而聚集在一起的人，而是一个个都能忍受各自孤独、彼此之间没有沟通而又一起玩着碰撞游戏的一个集体。可以说，这些有着不同背景和身份的老人集体的沉默寡言，正无情地暴露出，只有多元化情况下才存在交流可能性的这种乐观融合主义的无根据性。刻有深深皱纹的表情和手的精雕细琢，在这个本来没有意义的虚构情境中，却给予人一种令人战栗的逼真性。尽管如此，为什么要选择老人呢？也许是因为老人院意味着即将到来的死亡的秩序。尽管他们的动作很缓慢，也不放弃活动活动。交流的欠缺，不是由于不可改变的死而引起的，而是现实社会所面临的一个严酷的事实。孙原和彭禹通过具有冲击力度又不失诙谐的表现方式，直接照射出“根本问题”，换句话说，将现实事物和形而上相结合，赋予艺术家独特的秉性。老人院也充分地体现了他们这种独特的透彻的想法。


	Old People's Home Akira Tatehata Sun Yuan & Peng Yu's work Old People's Home consists of 13 hyper-realistic, life-sized human replicas of army generals, religious and political leaders of various nationalities, wearing very formal costumes, all sitting in electro-motion wheelchairs. This is a large-scale site-specific installation. The hyper-realistic human replicas in the wheelchairs either stare at something or simply nod their heads or look like they may be taking a nap. The wheelchairs automatically change directions when they collide with each other or with the wall. They are in constant motion, ceaselessly colliding, and their faces are emotionless, thus creating a kind of indifferent and eccentric atmosphere. The replicas represent a group of people who have no direct relationship. The do not talk to each other, so the scene resembles a collective hush, created by people from various cultural, social and racial backgrounds. It indicates the absurdity of the theory that frames an optimistic belief in the possibilities for mutual communication between different cultures or groups based on cultural pluralism. The wrinkles on their faces and the skin textures of their hands give people an extreme impression of trueness, while this kind of trueness is magnified under the meaningless fictional context that dominates the work. So, why choose the figures of elderly people? Maybe they refer to the concepts of both order and death. Although they move very slowly they are never fully motionless. In this powerful work, the duo of artists try to tell us that lack of communication is not du to the irreversibility of death, but is caused by the very structure of society. The metaphors lie in the work are conveyed through the direct reflection on some intrinsic questions. 老人院建哲孙原和彭禹的老人院是十三个实际尺寸的仿真人体所创作的作品。在这部作品中，军人统帅和宗教领袖，职业和国籍各不相同的老人们，全都穿着严肃的盛装和民族服装，坐在电动轮椅上缓慢的活动，可以说是一个大规模的、气氛很特别的艺术作品。他们坐在轮椅上，安详地盯着前方、无力地低着头、还有因疲劳而仰面朝天正在打盹的老人们。轮椅之间发生接触或者是碰到墙壁时，将自动改变前进方向，一声不响地在重复着来来往往的移动，形成一种冷漠的规律。他们不是一群为了说话聊天或讨论事情而聚集在一起的人，而是一个个都能忍受各自孤独、彼此之间没有沟通而又一起玩着碰撞游戏的一个集体。可以说，这些有着不同背景和身份的老人集体的沉默寡言，正无情地暴露出，只有多元化情况下才存在交流可能性的这种乐观融合主义的无根据性。刻有深深皱纹的表情和手的精雕细琢，在这个本来没有意义的虚构情境中，却给予人一种令人战栗的逼真性。尽管如此，为什么要选择老人呢？也许是因为老人院意味着即将到来的死亡的秩序。尽管他们的动作很缓慢，也不放弃活动活动。交流的欠缺，不是由于不可改变的死而引起的，而是现实社会所面临的一个严酷的事实。孙原和彭禹通过具有冲击力度又不失诙谐的表现方式，直接照射出“根本问题”，换句话说，将现实事物和形而上相结合，赋予艺术家独特的秉性。老人院也充分地体现了他们这种独特的透彻的想法。