Week 3: Robotics and Art

One of the most controversial aspects of industrialization, and robotics in general, is the concept of losing individuality. Industrialization aims primarily to make things more efficient. As such, an industrialized nation has concentrated areas of commerce and manufacturing as well as high population densities. Consumer goods are marketed as being part of a desirable lifestyle, aiming to make the population more homogenous.

What many people fear is that a great deal of industrialization will lead to a homogenous, boring existence. Like the picture below from the 2004 film I, Robot, we typically imagine the robotic products of industrialization to look alike, making them immediately identifiable, but indistinguishable.

Robots as seen in I, Robot (2004)

Walter Benjamin said, "Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be." As such, he points out that in any industrialized world, no matter the extent of the industry, originals will always be set apart. To continue with the example from I, Robot, Sonny may look like every robot, but acts entirely different. It is eventually what saves humanity.

In the image below, we see Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, The Terminator, from the science fiction film Terminator. The Terminator is a deadly killing machine designed to look like a human. This represents what is more likely in the future of robotics: uniquely imagined robots. Although many science fiction films point to a future wherein everyone will have the same model of robot, one probably said the same thing a century ago about today's automobiles. Though certain models and colors sell better than others, there is a great appreciation for vintage and unique vehicles.

The Terminator, a robot from the future, as seen in Terminator (1984)

Finally, I believe that we typically jump to doomsday scenario when looking at massive industrialization. This was hugely evident in Disney's film WALL-E. In the film, we immediately see the protagonist robot cleaning up an entire planet of mechanical junk. It has been designed for one purpose, but eventually learns others. It then visits the humans in space, where they have been reduced to little more than wheelchair-bound gelatinous blobs. It is tempting to think that our civilization is heading in the same direction, but I believe such doomsday scenarios are impossible. As Benjamin argues, there is something immutable and undeniable about originality. I cannot imagine a world in which every human willingly conforms to the same fate.

A protagonist robot from WALL-E (2008).

References:

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Zeitschrift Für Sozialforschung (1936). Print.

Blade Runner. Warner Brothers, 1982. Film.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-86. Print.

I, Robot. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 2004. Film.

WALL-E. Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2008. Film.


I, Robot Wallpaper. Digital image. Http://www.leblogdefanaworld.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/i-robot-wallpaper.jpg. Web.

The Terminator. Digital image. Http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01525/Terminator_1525028c.jpg. Web.

WALL-E Desktop Wallpaper. Digital image. Http://hd.wallpaperswide.com/thumbs/wall_e_4-t2.jpg. Web.