Thursday, April 14, 2016

Week 3: Art+Robotics

In this weeks topic about art and robotics, I would like to bring up and discuss some topics about robotics and art. I would first like to bring up subject that was brought up in the lecture videos part one and two, which bring up the upcoming of industrial revolution technologies such as the printing press(explained in the historyofinformation.com, as well) and the world changing automobiles. They were seen as "a sign of beauty, the beauty of speed" which is crazy and incredible to think about considering that cars are the revolutionary way of transportation that we still use to this day and has advanced to others such as the plane, subway, etc, that all use robotic/electronic engines that are seen as high-quality technology to create this art form we call a car. I could see that technology is advancing from the very begin that we first started using technology to build things and now we are at very high levels, for example, on the line of building artificial intelligence which are human-like robots that could think for themselves, and end up either helping our world or slowly destroy it. We see this example from the video of Robotics by Machiko Kusahara, which explains these cyborg like robots who could help maybe rescue people when in trouble or even make jobs easier for people(an example used in the video of Astroboy who was a symbol of robotics in Japan and pop culture who was a human-like robot). Robots in the future could be beneficial, but at the same time could destroy things such as taking away jobs or maybe even taking over the world due to computers being able to think all on their own. I don't want to think of the negatives, but I like to think positively and hope these advanced robotics used for these artforms will help out this world. At the end of the day, these robotics have been influenced by art and art influenced by robotics giving everyone the ability to create art with robotics such as the examples of cars, the printing press, design art on computers, etc.















Another example or arts and robotics is Walter Benjamins, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, where he talks about how films and there is no place like a movie scene
that is being shot that has an illusionary nature is that of the second degree which is cutting. The studio uses mechanical equipment to create the shot that is this art of film to cut scenes to create a movie story line. For example, the Terminator and how he is a human-like robot that protects a human from a invasion and taking over of the world. Another example of this, is Douglas Davis, The Work of Art.., and how he explains that a photograph could be photoshopped and chopped up nowadays to where someone uses robotics to create art. Art influences technology and technology influences art.
Sources:

 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. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1576221?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101286048881>.

Kusahara, Machiko. "Professor Machiko Kusahara on japanese robotics". Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/63226/wiki/unit-3-view?module_item_id=970429>

Vesna,Victoria. “Lecutre Part 1.” Math + Art. 12 Oct. 2012. Lecture.

Vesna,Victoria. “Lecutre Part 2.” Math + Art. 12 Oct. 2012. Lecture.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Christian, nice post. I like how you referenced the Terminator movies. I think this is a great example of how robotics can be viewed in a negative way and as a threat to humanity. Professor Vesna discussed that this idea was very popular in Germany, whereas in Japan, people tend to think that robotics in society is a positive thing rather than a negative one. I think in the USA there is a mix of opinions. One thing is for sure though - a good point you brought up - technology is advancing very rapidly and is now a part of our everyday lives!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think your post is very thoughtful and accurate of what lots of people are feeling towards robotics. I feel as though we have moved far from the potential of reverting back to the way things were. Machine have helped artists extend and pronounce their creativity much higher than they ever have before.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The interesting thing about the use of photoshop is that, when it comes to models and celebrities, it can actually be difficult to find photos that aren't photoshopped. That doesn't even include the fact that they're also all wearing makeup. Also, photoshop can be used to make someone prettier or uglier, depending on what effect is desired.

    -Jacob Hoffman

    ReplyDelete