Week 3: Robotics+ Art

After this week’s reading, I began to think that Technology and industrialization may have actually triggered a new world, with new functions, and new perspectives. However, is “New” always so good?

Ford Assembly Line, 1920s

Primarily, Mass production stands as one of the most influential impact of the utilization of Technology in the practical society. Although a symbolic introduction of technological practicum of this mass production is known to be Ford’s technology of Assembly Lines, Dr. Vesna adds in her lecture that the First mass production was the Printing Press. Printing Press should be seen as the first mass production practice as it benefited, or at least effected, the lifestyles of all people in all classes and genders; not just the rich who were   primarily effected by Ford’s first Assembly Lines. However, was this new technological influence in the society welcomed?

Douglas Davis states in his article that Original and reproduction in this society virtually no longer withholds a clear conceptual distinction between one another. If the production of replicas and copies, and mass production was so conformed into the use of the society, I would have initially assumed that since the society allowed for such conformation, then people probably thought positively of it. However, this assumption is contrasted by Walter Benjamin as he expresses in his article that there exists an imperialistic warfare in the society where it began within the discrepancy between the means of production and their “inadequate” utilization in the process of production, which ultimately sums up to negatively affect unemployment and Lack of Markets. So I came to understand that technology has its toll in different perspectives in the society. Technology is becoming significant in propelling the market, but taking away employment of humans.

Thinking deeper into this topic, I thought of two movies that reflect the contrasting ideas of the society towards technology, although both published in 2008. “Eagle Eye” starring Shia Lebeouf seems to clearly demonstrate the ultimate fear of the people with the drastically growing use and complexity of technology. In contrast, the famed “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey Jr. becomes a more positive outlook of the use of technology as protagonist heroically saves the world from bad humans. Although there was, is, and will still exist contrasting outlooks to technology and industrialization in the society, the inevitable presence of Technology is increasingly being defined and expressed through Art.

Sources

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader (1936): n. pag. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-86. JSTOR. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Eagle Eye. Dir. D. J. Caruso. Prod. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Patrick Timothy Crowley. By John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz, and Daniel McDermott. Perf. Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, and Rosario Dawson. DreamWorks SKG, 2008.

Iron Man. Dir. Jon Favreau. Prod. Avi Arad and Kevin Feige. By Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, and Matthew Holloway. Perf. Robert Downey, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Paramount Pictures, 2008.

Robotics Lectures. Dir. Victoria Vesna. Perf. Victoria Vesna (Dr./Prof.). Course Login. UCLA Online Website DESMA 9, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.