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Week 3: Robots + Art

Original printing press design.
In response to this week’s material, I focused primarily on the ideas presented in lecture regarding the evolution of technology beginning with the industrial revolution all the way up to the present popularity of robots.  In Lecture Part 1, Professor talked about how the invention of the printing press is what sparked the exchange of knowledge around the world, which was vital in the development of some of recent history’s most brilliant minds.  However, I feel that during the development of technology since this time period, we have turned this method that once helped to spread knowledge and ideas into a mechanism that doesn’t make us think at all.  I think this was the biggest juxtaposition that I noticed while reading the material this week, especially in the piece written by Walter Benjamin. 
Walter Benjamin
           





Futuristic robot model.
In his writing, Benjamin references the introduction of mass production into our culture, and how this affected the world of art, specifically in terms of paintings.  He continues by making a comparison between artists and cameramen, in other words comparing old-time art with a more contemporary form. He says that the beauty of paintings is the idea that they elicit contemplation in viewers, making them stop to think, interpret and distinguish meaning behind the piece.  Now, with the preferred method of creative work being films, there is no need to think because before a person can contemplate a specific scene, it has already switched to the next.  I think this idea of mindless consumerism of new forms of art is reflected in how we manage our technological advances.  This was also discussed in the TED talk given by Rodney Brooks, who is convinced that robots will soon take over every aspect of our lives.  This is because we will not stop until we create robots to make every aspect of our lives easier.  This seems so obvious at first glance, but when thinking about the industrial revolution and how people used this technology to share ideas and spread knowledge, we have turned that desire to grow intellectually into spending our lives inventing robots to think for us.  Before reading Benjamin’s piece, I had never realized how toxic the introduction of robots could be because of their basic purpose to replace human action.

References

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader (n.d.): 25-33. Web.

Brooks, Rodney. "Robots will invade our lives." Rodney Brooks: Robots will invade our lives | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

PSDFinder.com. "Futuristic Mechanical Robot Graphic PSD Freebie - PSDfinder.com." Pinterest. N.p., 03 June 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Slaughter, Jamie. "Invention of The Printing Press - Who Invented The Printing Press - InventionReaction." Invention Reaction. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Uconlineprogram. "Robotics pt1." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.






Comments

  1. Kayla EberApril 24, 2017 at 1:27 PM

    Hi Kodi, loved reading this blogpost. I didn't think about how the creation of machines is leading to our demise because we are no longer thinking. I liked your point about film moving from one scene to the next which mimics mindless consumerism.

    ReplyDelete

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