Week 3: Robotics + Art

Art is a process. It takes a creative mind and the ability to take this creativeness from an idea and put it in material form. There's also something about doing it by hand as well because a part of the art that makes it unique and special is the imperfections that come with it. Without the use of technology every detail can be nit-picked and made into perfection, which although can be aesthetically pleasing, it's like taking a short cut and to me isn't as special.



In the past art was a more private pleasure, usually enjoyed by the owner but as it's popularity grew and demand for art grew, technology was there to reproduce them as needed As Walter Benjamin says in his essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: Its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” Surplus stores like Walmart or Target that sell wall art mass produce this and while they profit, the art suffers because of the loss of originality and meaning behind it.  


Although technology negatively affects art through its mass production, art can also affect technology, except in a more positive way. Art plays a huge role in technology because of the creative side it brings and the new features of technology that can be made due to this creative side. For example drones like the hexapod robot with all of its features and gadgets are developed from a creative idea that gets materialized. We just have to be a little cautious with how ambitious we get with robots because if movies like iRobot have taught us anything, self-aware robots never end up being a good thing for humanity.










Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

 "Target Art." Target : Expect More. Pay Less. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

 Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction.” The MIT Press, 1995. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. 

 Micromagic Systems Robotics Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

 I, Robot. Dir. Alex Proyas. Perf. Will Smith. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004.



Pictures:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c5/86/c0/c586c03fd0d0be97e2ce8d4a12e154b8.jpg

 https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/b629da11-a929-40b6-9480-f287bf8613e2_1.62bb5a37fb7dffe9200b464603e1d27b.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF

 http://www.hexapodrobot.com/images/MSR_uBug/uBug_PG_Head_03.JPG

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 11:27 PM

    The mass reproduction of art sold at mega stores such as wal-mart and target definitely bring down the value of art. I think its the combination of replication, and seeing a photo print trying to pass as paint on canvas. simply its just fake, and I enjoy seeing hand created art as well. Great blog!

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