Week 3 Blog Assignment | Robotics + Art
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| Ford Assembly Line |
The ideas behind this week's material prompted me to analyze the process of industrialization, specifically mass-manufacturing, in relation to the intersection of art and technology, beginning with Henry Ford's presentation of the Assembly Line [Vesna]. As we read, this wave of innovation increased productivity in manufacturing and pushed the foray into replicable goods that started with Gutenberg's Printing Press back in the mid-15h century [Norman].
This burgeoning concept of manufacturing and robotics-based production (defined by efficiency and mass quantity) caused me to raise and analyze the following questions: how does the value of art change once it can be reproduced and mass-manufactured? What is lost or gained when something becomes replicable?
Benjamin tackled this concept by sharing one idea that reproduced art lacks the time and space in which it was meant to be displayed or experienced [Benjamin]. I applied this concept akin to seeing the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas. The piece looks similar to the original statue, albeit smaller, but loses the same patriotic-instilling sense of national pride and reflection when not admired off Ellis Island; large and on display as intended where originally presented.
I would also argue that a sense of exclusivity is lost in the industrialization process, as with Ford automobiles, which used to be symbol of wealth and elitism until they became available to the public. On the other hand, mass-reproduction of art does spread ideas or influences of art more quickly than otherwise possible, as Benjamin alludes to with art mediums such as film.
One film that tackles this idea of robotic-production is the 2001 film AI: Artificial Intelligence, which centers around a world where robots are manufactured and can be bought by humans. After couple's boy is hospitalized, the two cope by purchasing an android-child to be their new surrogate-son. The film questions what is missing from this replicated "boy" that can be reconstructed to look and feel like a real human. When the family regains their biological son back, they abandon the android child in a forest. I interpret the film to suggest that not all things can be replicated: that emotions and the essence of life (a soul?) loses value when not original, and translate this to art in general and what it is supposed to make us feel as an original piece or concept versus a replica.
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| Etsy Craft Materials |
In a recent article on craft-website Etsy's new IPO, society has taken a similar stand to question the coexisting nature of capitalist-driven manufacturing and the individuality and uniqueness of craft arts, which seem at war with one another. [Gittleson] While some would argue that mass-manufactured products devalue labor and lead to cheap surroundings, others believe it provides convenience: both sides attempting to address what value is gained and lost when technology helps us produce so efficiently.
Citations
"A.I. Artificial Intelligence." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Official® Trailer [HD]. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law. AI: Artificial Intelligence. Youtube, 21 May 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Etsy Craft Materials. Digital image. BBC News. BBC, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Gittleson, Kim. "Etsy: Can Craft and Capitalism Coexist?" BBC News. BBC, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Norman, Jeremy. "Relating the Rapidly Changing Present to the Distant Past as Far as Book History Is Concerned." Relating the Rapidly Changing Present to the Distant Past as Far as Book History Is Concerned. Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Unknown. Henry Ford Assembly Line. Digital image. Bloomberg. Bloomberg Media, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics Pt2." YouTube. UC Online, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
You've asked so many insightful questions in the post. I really appreciated the application of Benjamin's ideas to the concept of human nature and the soul through the movie AI. The idea of replication removing the essence of an objects beauty is really interesting. I think one way that I've grown to see beauty in those things is being in awe of the process of replication and viewing the actual mechanism to be beautiful, instead of the product. Through your analysis of AI, though, I was led to appreciate the beauty of experiencing something ir-replicatable. I think both thoughts have their place in the art world, they are just very different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI felt many of the connections your drew within this piece resonated with my own opinion. First, the example concerning the Statue of Liberty and how the experience of seeing it is as much the emotions it elicits when you are in it's presence as it is viewing the monument spoke deeply to me. That led me to wonder if maybe that is what makes certain pieces of art so impressive and timeless, that being the emotional experience you gain from standing in front of an original work and admiring all it represents. However, I agree with you in that while mass-produced art has a different value, it still has its place in the art world, and allows for a multitude of individuals to experience the work. Both mediums or styles are beneficial to the art community, just not in the same fashion, and this shows that as a whole industrialization gave as much as it took from the art world.
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