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| BeBionic markets itself as "the world's most advanced prosthetic hand". |
I've always been interested in the concept of cyborgs. It is easily arguable that we are currently living in the time of cyborgs. Pacemakers and mechanical limbs are just a couple ways that humans are being integrated with machinery. Not too long ago, the deaf community was afraid of cochlear implants for fear that it would turn their children into robots ("The Sound and the Fury" is a great film on this subject.)
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| Tinder is a very popular mobile matchmaking app. |
But it
goes beyond the internal implants. Every single one of us has an external brain
in our pocket. We use our phones to communicate, create, process information,
and even form romantic relationships. This last concept is very interesting to current
filmmakers, which is why we have films such as “Her.” But a film that I feel
truly expresses the extent to which technology has taken romance out of the
hands of people and into the control of a giant database is “TiMER,” in which a
company implants people with a timer that counts down until the exact moment
that they meet their soul mate (or at least the person that a complicated algorithm
thinks is their soul mate).
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| Rob and Nick Carter's Replica of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers. |
Another concept that really piqued my interest
was how Benjamin differentiates the painter from the photographer in their
distance from the object. In the modern era of the internet, physical distances
are trivial for creation. A programmer can convert an entire physical object
(be it an existing one that he/she would like to replicate or one from his/her
imagination) into lines of code that can be emailed across the globe and
3D-printed. In this way, the art of sculpting has been morphed from one of the
most hands-on forms of artistic expression into the most detached where you may
never even see your creation in person. As the selection of materials available
for 3d printing expands, so do the pathways for both innovation and expression.
Sources
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Brooks, Katherine. "14 Ways 3D Printing Has Changed The Art World." Huffington Post. 30 June 2014. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/3d-printing-art_n_5534459.html>.
Robotics + Art | Lecture. Perf. Victoria Vesna. UC Online, 2012. Film.
"TiMER." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179794/>.
We Are All Cyborgs Now. Perf. Amber Case. TEDTalks, 2012. Film.
I never have really thought of ourselves as cyborgs until I read your blog. I 100% agree with you after reading it. Our phones turn us into one of them because they do so much we can't. It was really interesting how you brought the movie her into the mix as well. It's a movie that shows how humans are so caught up in artificial intelligence that we could even fall in love with it. This is all really crazy to think about.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting how you brought up the idea of cochlear implants turning children into robots. That is such a perfect example of how technology can frighten some people whereas others would view cochlear implants as a positive technological advancement. This relates to when we watch the movie "Her;" does the future of technology scare us or entice us?
ReplyDeleteI do remember watching "The Sound and the Fury" in my AP Psych class senior year of high school. It is very cool that things such as cochlear implants have been invented and used for people with hearing disabilities, and countless other technologies have helped people with various problems. However, I do agree that as technology advances, human interface reduces, and this is a shame. We are all in an online class, which is convenient, but we never actually interact with one another and can complete this course in our own secluded rooms on a computer. We are oftentimes closer in contact to our devices than to other humans.
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