As a student in a science major, I never truly considered the impacts of mechanization and industrialization on art. I never learned that Decartes was not just a mathematician, but also a prominent philosopher as Dr. Vesna explains. Connecting this time period of industrialization and art, Walter Benjamin brings up the idea of uniqueness and authenticity, ultimately deducing that this lacks in reproduced art. He goes further to understand why, stating "[t]o an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility," which can be seen today in every aspect of daily life in the United States (2). Our consumerist and materialistic culture leads our society to completely align with Benjamin's ideas. The things we create are just designed to be recreated, manufactured, and, used for a purpose over and over again, rather than appreciated for its uniqueness stemming from tradition. This concept can be seen in the appropriation of native artistic pieces that are created from a ritualistic basis. Our society looks to take these art pieces and reproduce them multiple times to sell magazine covers or music festival outfits.

ELLE cover displaying native headdress on celebrity (Pinterest)

Though Benjamin correctly touches upon something lacking in reproduced art, Douglas Davis in his article mentions the need to acknowledge how this traditional idea of works of art is changing in not only its form, but delivery. He states how the "very act of deconstruction...has its own singular value" and gives the example of architecture. Extraordinary and beautiful architecture such as the Dresden Museum shown below would not be able to be made without the combination of different artistic elements from different centuries.

Dresden museum (Hufton+Crow Photography)
However often times it is hard to see this understanding of coexistness when you look at the extremes such as advanced robots or cyborgs. As a science major, I am trained to explore and to keep extending to the depths of possibility. My beliefs tend to align with individuals like Rodney Brooks, a prominent roboticist, who is building artificial intelligence to use robots in manufacturing. However, there is parallel with the natural fear among society, that is presented in movies such as "Her" where a man falls in love with a computer with emotions.

Movie shot from "Her" (WordPress)

References:

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Print.

Brooks, Rodney. Robots will invade our lives [Video file]. Feb. 2003. TED. Lecture. 

Dargis, Manohla. "Disembodied, But, Oh, What a Voice." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 17 Dec. 2013. Web.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-86. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

UC Online Program. “Robotics pt1.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 15 April 2012. Web. 16 April 2017.




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