Blog 3: Robotics + Art

Between the 18^th century and the 19^th century, western civilization has gone through one of the world’s most profound eras of all time; the Industrial Revolution. Although the engines roared with vigor and the forges lit up brighter than ever, there was a dark side filled with fear and uncertainty. The artistic community felt threatened by this “progress,” and felt that mass production aimed to undermine the importance and influence of authentic art. Many artists began to create work that depicted sceneries that juxtaposed the “grey drudgery of mechanical work,” with an essence of escapism.

A couple centuries later, western civilization once more stands on the cusp of another great tipping point. The Industrial Revolution never really stopped; it just need some time to catch its breath before giving it another push, but this time piggybacking onto the massive current of data caused by today’s “Information Age.” With machines and tools becoming smarter and smarter, we have brought the world to a new chapter of history; the “Robotic Revolution.” Now this may sound like some cheesy ominous foreshadowing from a sci-fi movie, but I see it as a new opportunity for humans to transcend our current physical and mental limitations, in both the fields of scientific and artistic development.

Scene from the movie "Terminator," where robots are destroying all of humanity

As newer generations of artists have begun to rise, they have been taking advantage of our mechatronic counterparts to expand their methods and media of expression. Many of these new-age artists, that I have had the pleasure of personally meeting, expressed that the integration of these “robots” into their work has allowed them to focus less on the preservation of the significance of the original piece, and more on the global impact it has along with the methods to convey it’s meaning. They are all aware that with the currently available technology, and their now digitalized art form, their work can be replicated anywhere by some robot, with absolutely no variation from the original. Their sentiments are best stated in an excerpt from a writing by Benjamin Walter, where this capability to mass produce the art “does not diminish its importance, however; if anything, it underlines it.” However, Walter ultimately believed that the “aura of originality” of each artistic work was doomed. While technically this was true if interpreted as literally as possible, these new artists believed that each replica of their work brought the artist and the viewer even closer together. Much like Douglas Davis felt in his writing, these artists felt that “digitalization transfers this aura [surrounding the original work of art] to the individuated copy, where artist and viewer perform together.”

"Muybridge Flight" by Sebastian Morales. A CNC machine "paints" flying birds with light in 3D space

"Embodied Automation" by Stefanie Pender. Stefanie is exploring new methods of creating glass artwork through integration of robotics and additive manufacturing. 

References

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381. Web.

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

History.com Staff. "Industrial Revolution." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

Grimes, Elin. "What major influence did the Industrial Revolution have on art?" Quora. N.p., 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <https://www.quora.com/What-major-influence-did-the-Industrial-Revolution-have-on-art>.

"Pier 9 on Vimeo." Vimeo, Autodesk, vimeo.com/pier9. Accessed 21 Apr. 2017.