Blog 3 - Robotics + Art

This week, we looked at robotics, and with the example of robotics in film. Walter Benjamin writes in his article about mechanical reproduction specifically and its impact on both the aura of art and the public’s response to it. When asked to talk about a movie I have watched and how society has reacted to industrialization through it, I turned to think of the increase in action and CGI films. My mother always tells me how scary “Jaws” was to her when I had just come out, and how realistic it was compared to other movies. Now, you could show the movie to a child and they would most likely not see it as scary or realistic, due to the sheer improvement and development of mechanical robotics and their use in film. If you look at the film “The Meg”, it is much more realistic and hence, the film and its industry, in general, is enhanced.

Benjamin says mechanical reproduction “emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.” Seemingly, he is discussing the idea of ‘basic’ film or movie practices. Development in robotics hence leads to development in art. If we look into the tools that are used specifically, robots are a large part of film. In his Ted Talk, Dennis Hong talks about the 7 types of robots. The second one is the IMPASS, which rolls on a wheel-leg hybrid and follows movement with a reactive approach. Directors and Cameramen can use robots like these in many action scenes to follow actors running or fighting. Benjamin also talks about Cameramen and how they are like artists themselves, looking “deeply into its (reality’s) web”.  

Robotics looks more into art than just film. Artists like Gijs van Bon and Freerk Wieringa use this kind of technology to develop their art forms and the purpose of them. Not only do they use improved robotics, but they also make developments into the aim of their pieces in entertaining. On the other hand, robotics is still in itself a STEM field, and many technological start-ups run solely on this concept. An example of this is a web-designing, free platform of robotics called Arduino. Companies like these can develop a product in the same way that these artists do, to entertain.

Overall, from this week, what I took away from both the lecture and the main Benjamin reading was development. Robotics, despite Benjamin’s criticism in his book about the devaluation of art by mechanical reproduction, is an ever developing field. A field that provides employment, expression, and entertainment, through film in specific.

Sources: 

Arduino, www.arduino.cc/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2019.

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

“Gijs Van Bon.” Gijs Van Bon, www.gijsvanbon.nl/.

Hong, Dennis. “Transcript of ‘My Seven Species of Robot -- and How We Created Them.’” TED, Sept. 2009, www.ted.com/talks/dennis_hong_my_seven_species_of_robot/transcript.

Wieringa, Freerk. “Exoskeleton.” Freerk Wieringa, www.freerkwieringa.nl/.