In the suburbs of China’s capital, a 32-year-old engineer creates the kind of larger-than-life, shape-shifting robots that most have only seen in Transformers movies.
Sun Shiqian’s roomy warehouse on the outskirts of Beijing houses a hulking menagerie, from a sleepy cow to a fiery metal dragon that stands 4.9m tall at the flip of a switch.
A graduate of China’s prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sun worked as an engineer before deciding to devote himself full-time to what he calls “robot arts.”
Photo: AFP
“As a child, I loved watching cartoons with robots, but I noticed that they were all from either Japan or the United States. There were no Chinese robots,” Sun said.
At the World Robot Conference in Beijing last month, the sculptor showcased an ox with the mechanical ability to transform into a robot “gladiator,” equipped with steel abs and all.
The android is part of his series based on the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.
This June, Sun unveiled a 5m “Monkey King” inspired by the simian protagonist of China’s famed Journey to the West.
Like his model, the 5-tonne robot holds a golden cudgel — except his is 6.3m long.
The next model of “Monkey King” is slated to challenge a US giant robot to a duel next year.
Sun grew up on an island off the coast of Dalian in northeast China. His family could not afford many toys, but his father, a former soldier, would often show him simple blueprints of weapons that were used in combat.
Using the blueprints and sheets of cardboard, Sun fashioned miniature fighting dragons and other creatures.
“I began to like art more and more, and I made increasingly complex robots in my spare time,” he said.
After leaving his engineering post in 2011, Sun focused his energy on designing robots — some costing upwards of 1 million yuan (US$150,000) — and making his visions a reality.
In 2014, he was commissioned by Paramount Movies to make robot sculptures to promote Transformers: Age of Extinction, which broke box-office records in China.
One model was exhibited at the historic Qianmen Gate, which formerly guarded the entrance to the Imperial City in Beijing.
“People asked me, why are they putting foreign art in front of Qianmen?” Sun said. “This had a big impact on me, because they recognized that this robot did not have Chinese origins. From then on, my dream has been to create robot art that is distinctly Chinese.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was