Week 3: Robotics + Art

Johannes Gutenberg brought the printing press to life, which “revolutionized the way people can see and describe the world they live in” (Uconlineprogram). The adaptation of different technologies in addition to his ideas changed the world and brought forth the technological era.  A combination of machines and electricity led to the development of mechanization. This also led to expansion of knowledge and education made available to the public (Norman).
Printing Press

Mechanization was one of the most important steps in the development of technology. Work done by hand to work done through machinery has improved production rates and outreach. Through mechanization, computers were created and as we see today, information is transmitted through the internet almost instantaneously, creating a new art medium. Davis discusses the ability of transmitting information almost perfectly: “digital bits, compatible with the new generation of tools that see, hear, speak, and compute…This means that any video, audio, or photographic work of art can be endlessly reproduced without degradation” (Davis 2). People can view art pieces from the comfort of their homes all over the world.
Information on the Internet
I recently watched The Imitation Game, a movie about Alan Turing, the father of computer science and computer programming. This movie showed Turing creating a machine that can dissect messages during a time of war to save his country. Indeed, mechanization was extremely influential.
Turing Machine

Walter Benjamin, although notes that mechanization is an efficient way for outreach, says it lacks authenticity (Benjamin). When an idea is passed on, it is broken down and tradition no longer holds. He believes mechanization “emancipates the work of art”, losing the true nature of the original work (Uconlineprogram). Originality is somewhat lost when passed on. People can misinterpret a piece, losing its meaning, or technology might not portray the work completely; if the picture of an artwork is shared online, it can become pixelated and some pixels may be lost during transmission. However, these mechanistic aspects can be fixed and misinterpretations can be corrected, and authenticity still resides.

Industrialization was a gruesome, yet enlightening time. Work conditions were intense and employees were treated poorly. But because of mechanization, we have the technology we use today. Learning from the mechanical reproduction period, many use technology to support learning and creating products, such as Arduino (“Arduino Education”). Mechanization was truly an influential period for society.




References
"Arduino Education." Arduino - Education. Arduino, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1936. 22 Apr. 2017. PDF.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." JSTOR. The MIT Press, 1995. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

Norman, Jeremy. "How Printing Changed the Ways That Books Were Used, and Manuscript Production Persisted." How Printing Changed the Way Books Were Used and Manuscript Production Persisted. Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc., 2004-2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

Uconlineprogram. "Robotics Pt1." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Images
"Alan Turing, the Father of the Computer Turns 100." Technology and Gadget Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Bigcheecho Bigcheecho View User Profile View Posts, Joefoggie Joefoggie View User Profile View Posts, KingzofDawn KingzofDawn View User Profile View Posts, Deonyi Deonyi View User Profile View Posts, XazoTak XazoTak View User Profile View Posts, Execute1313 Execute1313 View User Profile View Posts, and JSX JSX View User Profile View Posts. "Bigcheecho." Printing Press - A Better Way to Make Multiple Versions of Books! - Suggestions - Minecraft Discussion - Minecraft Forum - Minecraft Forum. N.p., 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

"US Should Not Relinquish Its Internet Authority To Foreign Governments." Congressman Ted Yoho. N.p., 09 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Comments

  1. NaingApril 24, 2017 at 8:34 PM

    I think the way you say, "these mechanistic aspects can be fixed and misinterpretations can be corrected, and authenticity still resides." is very well put. This reminds me of the music industry when the digital technology emerges and people can downloads mp3 songs for free. Some thought digital technology would kill the artists' works but it didn't. However, the technology fixed itself with online music store such as iTunes which provides songs to customers as low as a dollar price capturing million of online users. Digital technology also helps the artists to reach out to their fans effortlessly and their art works are easily available to the public while authenticity still resides.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 27, 2017 at 11:55 PM

    I think the examples that you used are amazing. It really depicts the true meaning between art and technology and its shows just how vital this relationship is. To think that if these two worlds never collided, our world would be such a colorless place. Nothing worth while would have been invented and nothing would be as exciting.

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