The installation is Ting-Tong Chang’s body of work investigating the history of automatons in Europe as a means of exploring utopian visions. The word "automaton" is often used to describe self-moving machines, especially those that have been made to resemble human or animal actions. From Jacques de Vaucanson’s Digesting Duck (1739) to Andreas Jakob Graf Dietrichstein’s Mechanical Theatre (1752), automatons have entertained kings and princess, taught moral lesson to citizens and raise deep philosophical questions. Above all, they are technical sophistication that embodies utopian visions and political dreams.
Mask by Jordu Schell.