Robotics + Art


With the industrialization of society came the integration of technology into all aspects of human life, including art. As humans usually do with things that are foreign to them, the response to the mechanization of the labor force was stemmed by fear. This gave rise to the concept of robots which became a common theme of many Sci-Fi movies. Blade Runner, released in 1982, is a perfect example where a nightmare future scenario comes true and humans and robots are indistinguishable. From then on technology has become more and more infused with art. The integration of robotics and more generally technology with art hasn’t been solely positive. As Walter notes, mechanical reproduction has taken away a bit of the authenticity of original pieces of art. While reproduction allows for better preservation of art, in a way, it renders the original as less valuable. The changing manner in which art is perceived is reiterated in the readings of Davis, who echoes some of the same sentiments in a modern period. Davis brings up how a single picture now can be manipulated in various ways from altering body parts to changing background colors. This manipulation distorts the line between original and fake. It’s a topical issue to bring up and something art will be dealing with for the foreseeable future as the digitization of art continues. Technology continues to be integrated into art especially with the up and coming virtual reality that is being tied into everything from video games to sightseeing on smart phones. In the future, art and technology is one.

Work cited: 
Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."
 Douglas Davis, The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (1991-95)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/what-roboticists-can-learn-from-art
http://www.computersciencezone.org/10-mind-blowing-pieces-robot-art/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/arts/design/virtual-reality-has-arrived-in-the-art-world-now-what.html?_r=0




Comments

  1. UnknownApril 25, 2017 at 8:00 PM

    I enjoyed reading your post. I think you've presented a very good summary of what we could learn from this weeks's references and discussions. I'm not sure how you personally feel about the integration of art and technology and how much you agree/ disagree with Benjamin. I'm guessing that you view the effects of technology on art more positive rather than negative though. If this is true, I should say that I agree with you.However, I just think that social responses against mechanization of workforce were not only stemmed out of fear. I believe social and political implications of an automated workforce were much beyond personal acceptance or objection.While industrialization brought great profits to many, we can not neglect the fact that many others lost their jobs because of that. Or, the control of technology over society in the time of say WW2 created inhumane opportunities for those in power. The point I'm trying to make is that we can not turn a blind eye to the drawbacks of technology. So, we need to be cautious of how much we rely on technology.

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