"...For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual" (Benjamin 2).
All of the shifts are easy to notice: most modern cartoons are computer animated rather than drawn or painted. Nobody offers to develop film anymore because digital photography has taken over the market. Even most painting is done on a graphic designing program. Art is now mass produced through technology and commodified in a way it never has been before, a shift reminiscent to when the printing press first started gaining significance in Europe. So the question to ask is: what the hell is really happening here?
Robotics confuse us because they blur the lines between what we know as reality and fantasy. Ken Feingold's work really hit me this unit. Much like in the clip above, the flawed ways in which robotics duplicate our regular social behaviors illuminates unspoken truths about human interaction. That is the problem with robotics today- its imperfections make us feel uneasy and unsure. Things become...eerie.
The reason I bring all this up is because I think Benjamin is slightly off. He says art is freed from its dependence on ritual but this is not so. Instead, the rituals it is dependent on now are just different than before. All art is still produced in some pattern-like manner in processes that have already been established and they all use cultural and social facts as their driving point. An art piece as simple as a machine that opens and closes a traditional fan is using centuries-old worth of knowledge and culture to make a point.
I guess my overall point here is that because robotics are not yet perfected, I don't believe much of a change has occurred. The robotics we have today are proportional technologies to say a printing press in the 1500s/1600s. However, when we start to reach a point we never thought possible, say something like the movie I, Robot, that is when we will have to answer to ourselves. And looking at this video of Dirk the homeless robot we are not very far from that point.
Sources:
"ABOUT ELECTRIC CIRCUS." About Electic Circus. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.electric-circus.eu/>.
"Arthur Ganson Kinetic Sculpture." Arthur Ganson Kinetic Sculpture. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html>.
Benjamin, Walter, Hannah Arendt, and Caroline Bassett. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. N.p.: n.p., 1970. N. pag. Print.
"Hod Lipson: Building "self-aware" Robots." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots.html>.
"Ken Feingold: Recent Works." Ken Feingold: Recent Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.kenfeingold.com/>.
I really liked your thoughts on how robotics confuse us because of they blur reality and fantasy. It tied in well to the Dirk video and explained why the people reacted that way to the homeless robot. I think people fear the idea that robots can become so advanced that they could replace humans.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true that the imperfections of robotics, even today, have such awkward human interactions. And this does make many of us afraid of the robotic world, especially considering how similar they are made to become: as you mention, the robotic art world blurs reality with fantasy. Personally I'm very interested in seeing how this commodification of technology and art finally plays out.
ReplyDelete