《心鎖》楊燁炘

This installation aims to arouse people's attention and help to children with autism and their families. The installation through use five giant locks of different sizes locks a family of five, and the smallest lock in the middle stands silently. With an autistic child, among the four big locks around it stood father, mother, grandpa, and grandma. The big lock entwined with black woolen thread vividly presents the huge mental stress and isolation and helplessness of families with autism to the public. The unique creativity and impactful visual effects of the works shocked the hearts of many visitors, and truly experienced the helpless plight of autistic children and their families.

In the center of the site is a small lock, there is an autistic child trapped in it, which symbolizes his isolated inner world and the state of being "locked" for a lifetime. Among the four large locks around it stand father, mother, Grandpa and grandma, in order to present the tremendous mental stress and isolation and helpless living conditions of millions of autistic families in China, urge the relevant departments to produce supportive and promotional protection policies for autism.

On the one side, the work shows the lack of communication between children with autism and their families. On the other hand, it also shows that the parents themselves do not receive social care and need to face difficulties alone, just as lonely and helpless as their children. Whether it is autistic children or their family members, they are locked in this predicament for a lifetime.

The installation of《心鎖》makes me think that it is true that mental illness is really like isolating people in spaces. We may not be invisible to the outside world, but we cannot get out of that invisible room, we are all trapped in this invisible room.

#artwork #black

Gov.cn. 2020. 大型装置艺术《心锁》亮相上海世博园. [online] Available at: <http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2012-06/04/content_2152737.htm>

Gov.cn. 2020. [online] Available at: <http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/images/images/1c6f6506c7f81136a80701.jpg>