WEEK 3: Robotics + Art
As highlighted in Vesna’s lecture, and believed by Walter Benjamin, mechanical reproduction has led to the aura of works of art to “wither away", however, I disagree with Benjamin’s stance.
Although the growth in mechanization has made copying works of art, such as paintings, photos, and handwritten works, much easier, it is through these acts of duplication and attempts at producing works of great fidelity that have enabled human beings to further their knowledge and improve upon existing work to innovate and create even better products.
Although the growth in mechanization has made copying works of art, such as paintings, photos, and handwritten works, much easier, it is through these acts of duplication and attempts at producing works of great fidelity that have enabled human beings to further their knowledge and improve upon existing work to innovate and create even better products.
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| Innovation Cartoon from gapingvoidart.com |
For example, had famous pieces of art, such as Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, not been able to be mechanically reproduced and distributed in a variety of books, many people would not have had the opportunity to see the amazing work. Although the first time one sees the piece of art they may be looking at a reproduced version, similar to the point Davis brings up in his paper, that moment they first see the work is original in itself. In that initial moment, the piece’s aura is still powerful and influential, even though the piece has been mechanically reproduced, because the individual has not seen anything like it before. Similarly, robots are mechanically reproduced, yet through customizable software each interaction with the robot carries with it a certain aura.
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| Michelangelo's Creation of Adam from part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling |
Reproduction also encourages innovation. When pieces of art, software, or even robotic designs are copied, such duplication allows for creators to learn and build even better products. For example, robots like Jibo are mass reproduced, which allows others to learn from Jibo and apply it to their own robotic creations.
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| Jibo robot from jibo.com |
For example, there has been a rise in the robotics field in a variety of industries, including medical, military and agriculture. Companies such as FarmBot have made their software and hardware open source in order to promote collaboration and improve their existing bot.
This type of response to industrialization is ideal because it is through such societal encouragement that individuals are able to share their knowledge in order to learn from one another. We live in a world where it is easy to duplicate works and products, thus we must take advantage of the ability to do so and embrace mechanization in order to foster innovation.
REFERENCES
Benjamin, Walter. "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction." Film Theory and Criticism 4 (2006): 665-82.
Davies, Chris. "Adopt a robot? Jibo aims to be part of the family." SlashGear. N.p., 16 July 2014. Web.
Davies, Chris. "Adopt a robot? Jibo aims to be part of the family." SlashGear. N.p., 16 July 2014. Web.
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.
Faggella, Daniel. "Global Competition Rises for AI Industrial Robotics -." TechEmergence.com. N.p., 27 March 2017. Web.
Vesna, Victoria. “Industrialization, Robotics, Kinetic / robotic art.” Desma 9: Art, Science and Technology. Los Angeles, CA. April 15, 2012. Lecture.
Great insight Ashley! I appreciate you being willing to disagree with scholars like Benjamin and I think you have a valid point. Without innovation how can humans progress? Keep up the hard work.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good argument! I love what you said about sharing knowledge in order to learn from one another because its so true and obvious that collaboration is the best way to go. However, this isn't always the case as can be seen in fields, such as art and scientific research, that an "open community" isn't what everyone believes in.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed your point about works being improved on. Knowing that many pieces of art have been made and remade thousands of times and I'm sure even the artists have a hird time decididing if their work is ever truely "done." This can be shown through books having many editions, and technology such as apple products coming out with new versions. Art is essentially made new as it is recopied and improved upon.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your argument in this weeks lectures and readings! I liked how you used examples such as FarmBot to enhance your claims and arguments. I also thought it was cool that you discussed sharing ideas as other form of learning. Keep it up! I loved reading and can't wait to see what else you have to write.
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