Week 3: Robots + Art

-

In this week’s lecture, the history of industrialization and its influence and connection to modern day art was greatly emphasized by Professor Vesna. American mass production was first revolutionized by Henry Ford who utilized assembly lines to create cars that were inexpensive and allowed workers to be paid a living wage. However, the idea of “separating actions into pieces and having each worker do a part of the productions” first came about with the creation of the printing press (Vesna). 
Ford's assembly line. Live-News24.
Like author Walter Benjamin, many people feel negatively about industrialization and the impact (both real and potential) that it can have on art, culture and humanity. In his book, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Benjamin argues that mass production and reproduction depreciates a piece of art by taking away the “aura” of the original. For example, using Benjamin's argument, digital prints of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa would take away the essence of the original painting because the process is substituting plurality for originality. While I do understand Walter Benjamin's train of thought, I am not sure that I agree. I personally think that the mass reproduction of art actually makes the original more valuable and heightens the "aura". 
Mona and the metal men. Mark Bryan, 2006 44" x 24". 

Human skepticism regarding technology and specifically robots is manifested in a majority of sci-fi movies created. For example, the movie I, Robot depicts a society where robots take on a myriad of public service positions (i.e. caretakers, personal assistants, police); however, the robots begin to malfunction and lash out on humans. Human skepticism towards robots and technology in general is represented through the character, Del Spooner, portrayed by actor Will Smith. 
Sources


Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18 Oct 2012. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>. 

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo, vol. 28, no. 5, 1995, pp. 381–386. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1576221.

I, Robot. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl#synopsis

Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics pt1"YouTube, uploaded by UC Online, 15 April 2012. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=871&v=cRw9_v6w0ew. Web.


Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics pt2"YouTube, uploaded by UC Online, 15 April 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=253&v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk. Web.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 9: Space + Art

-
Image
Space has been a topic of fascination for myself and many other humans. The sheer magnitude of the universe is more than we can comprehend but the Powers of Ten video does a great job of putting the smallness of Earth and humans into perspective in relation to the universe. Even though we cannot fully understand space and the universe, humans have incorporated space into many aspects of our culture. Powers of Ten Space has influenced TV with shows like The Jetsons (1962), Star Trek (1966) and Lost in Space (1965) which were all first aired during a time of great advancements in space travel, the Space Race. Sputnik, the first satellite in space and launched by the USSR, was sent into orbit on October 4, 1957.  The first human in, Yuri Gagaran, space was sent up in 1961 and the first American, Alan Shepard, was sent in 1962. And, in July 1962, the first man in human history set foot on the moon. Space has also influenced the film industry which led to the creation of movies like St
Read more

Event 3: Internet Heritage Site

-
Image
As a newly-graduated high school senior, I remember hearing the factoid that UCLA was the "birth place of the internet" at the New Student Orientation. I had not thought much more about it until I heard about the Leonard Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site via other students in DESMA 9.  The Internet Heritage Site is located at 3420 Boelter Hall where the very first Internet message was sent to Stanford Research Institute on October 29, 1969 (Savio). The message, sent by a graduate student, was the first two letters of the word "login", "lo". Before the student could type the rest of the word, the ARPANET system crashed (Kudler).  The ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, was a huge success because it was able to connect to different hardwares and softwares which previous systems could not accomplish. The sending of the first Internet message was between a Sigma 7 at UCLA and a SDS 940 at Stanford which are two different systems (Kudler).  I de
Read more