WEEK 3 - Robotics + Art

 Week 3 - Robotics + Art

According to Walter Benjamin, “…for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.” In other words, the ability to reproduce art at a mass capacity makes art lose its “authenticity” and “uniqueness” (Vesna). This may be true as various copies of art can be made, inevitably losing the value of there being one original, but I believe this reproduction has allowed art to reach larger audiences than previously imagined. As Douglas Davis states, “My virtual self (that is, a three-dimensional working model of the author) can be transmitted even now from New York to Lodz, Poland” (382). Patrons of art, in the Renaissance Era, were usually Kings, Queens, Popes, Covenants, etc. (Hickson). In other words, only a certain class was outwardly exposed to art, and I believe this mechanical reproduction has a way of increasing who gets to experience art. Therefore, reproduction may have some negatives, but it may also bring about positive aspects as well.

Mass production of art from P-Themes. 

We further discussed how industrialization and the use of robotics has come to be. While learning about this, it made me consider how art and robots have been combined in the art installation “Can’t Help Myself” by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. The structure consists of a robot cleaning its surrounding area, and it has been put into exhibit for individuals to interpret the artistic meaning. This provides a clear example of how despite the critiques of robots and industrialization affecting art’s authenticity, it can be combined in a way that opens the mind to interpretation.

"Can't Help Myself" by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu from VICE.

As we discuss robots this week, it made me remember the famous Disney movie, Wall-E. Although not entirely correlating with robots and art, I believe it does well of representing the role robotics can play within society. In the movie, robots are essentially doing most of the work for humans such as reporting whether Earth is inhabitable, driving their spaceships, and more. This correlates with the Western fear of robots discussed by Professor Machiko Kusahara where in Japan, robots were created to help people and appeared friendly, but the West has seen robots as scary due to a different form of industrialization process (Vesna). Wall-E can serve as an example of how robots can be beneficial to society, despite the fear that robots will take over since in the end of the movie, robots and humans were able to co-habit the Earth. 

Wall-E from Pixar Movies. 

Resources: 

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” 1936.

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., https://doi.org/10.2307/1576221. 

 Hickson, Sally. “Patronage of the Arts.” Oxford Bibliographies, 2017, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0358.xml#:~:text=Kings%2C%20popes%2C%20princes%2C%20cardinals,artists%20to%20fulfill%20their%20commissions.

 Vesna, Victoria, director. Industrialization, Robotics, Kinetic/Robotic Arts. Lecture Part 1, Bruin Learn, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/129896/pages/unit-3-view?module_item_id=4852504. Accessed 2022.

Vesna, Victoria, director. Professor Machiko Kusahara on Japanese Robotics, BruinLearn, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/129896/pages/unit-3-view?module_item_id=4852504. Accessed 2022.

Images:

“Character Design .” Pixar Animation Studios, https://www.pixar.com/feature-films/walle.

P-Themes. “Mass Produced Art.” Curina, 2019, https://www.curina.co/blogs/news/mass-produced-mass-painted.

Wannamann, Azura. “[Exclusive] the Guggenheim's First Robotic Artwork Is out of Control.” VICE, 2016, https://www.vice.com/en/article/ez5y9z/guggenheims-art-robot-cant-help-itself.