Week 3: Robotics + Art

The invention of the printing press was really the beginning of assembly line production. This mechanization of book making lead to the first mass production of books in history, allowing for a rapid spread of ideas. Thomas Ford really capitalized on the idea of the assembly line in his car factories. In response to the mechanization of labor, theater came out with the idea of the robot. The word robot came from the term “robota,” which in Czech and a lot of Slavic languages means work. It is exactly this manner of production that Walter Benjamin criticized. In his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” he analyzes how mechanical reproduction puts an end to the idea of uniqueness and authenticity. He claims that “to an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the ‘authentic’ print makes no sense.”

"Scenes From the Assembly Line at the Ford River Rouge Plant." The Old Motor. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.


Regardless of Benjamin’s criticism, however, we should consider the many positive impacts of technology on daily life and how robotics and art coexist. Robotics have made life so much easier nowadays if we take into account all of our household appliances, cars, etc. Robotics and technology have also opened up many different forms of expression including digital art, 3D printing, photography, movies, and many other forms as well. In David Hanson’s TEDtalk, he describes how he is working on robots that can empathize with people and that can perceive emotional states. There is an added artistic element to this that comes into play when creating the faces of the robots and making the robots able to mimic facial expressions that correspond to the emotions they recognize in the people around them.



Before listening to Professor Kusahara’s lecture, I had never really considered that robots could be perceived differently by different cultures. She pointed out how robots are often seen as evil in Western culture but nice in Eastern culture. Astro Boy is a very popular character in Japanese culture who has very human emotions and ethics and became a basis of today’s robotics in Japan. He is representative of the fact that Japanese people view robots as human helpers, whereas in the West, robots are seen of more as a threat as we become ever more dependent on them.


"Astro Boy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Apr. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.





References:

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

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

Hanson, David. "Robots That "show Emotion"." David Hanson: Robots That "show Emotion" | TED Talk | TED.com. TED Conferences, Feb. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

Uconlineprogram. "Robotics MachikoKusahara 1." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.


Brooks, Rodney. "Robots Will Invade Our Lives." Rodney Brooks: Robots Will Invade Our Lives | TED Talk | TED.com. TED Conferences, Feb. 2003. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

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