Week 2: Robotics + Art

               It cannot be argued that industrialization has changed the way that art is viewed and formed. From computers to robots, the way art is viewed today is not like how it was viewed a hundred, fifty, or even ten years ago. However, there are those such as Walter Benjamin who believe that art is losing its so-called “aura”, tradition, and uniqueness from these new advances (1). Although mass production has caused the traditional aspect to decline somewhat, it does not mean that this new age of art has loss anything special. Instead, it is just evolving like everything else in life.

The changing paradigm of art from traditional to digital (1).

               Film is one way in which art has evolved. Duhamel has criticized movies as “a spectacle which requires no concentration and presupposes no intelligence” (1), but he seems to forget one critical element of art: emotion. Art may want people to think; however, it really wants them to feel as well. There are even studies from functional MRIs that show art eliciting emotions (2). Whether it be through thought or emotion, art is supposed to be something impressionable that people can take with them. Films do that in their very own way.

Films can elicit emotions similar to that of traditional art (2). 

               A great example that mixes the concepts of emotion, art, robotics, and film together is Disney’s Big Hero 6 (2015). It has both a touching story along with an innovative robot design found in Baymax. In fact, people working on the movie mainly based Baymax’s design on a developing technology called soft robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (4). By showing these new technologies through animation, this film is bringing robots and art even closer together. Much akin to Professor Kusahara’s description of a friendly humanoid robot, Baymax also shows a positive side to robots that is typically found in Japanese culture. In many respects, this viewpoint is displaying the pros of industrialization and robotics rather than the cons found in earlier movies like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). Despite what critics say, Big Hero 6 is art by captivating the audience’s hearts with the story and their imaginations with the robots.

Baymax from Big Hero 6 was inspired by actual robot designs and concepts (3).

               Even though art is evolving, it is not replacing traditional art entirely. To this day, many people “still bid wildly at auctions and employ armies of scholars to find the ‘original’,” (3). Art tends to utilize computer-generated animations or robots nowadays, but it is still considered art as long as it can convey meaning to the audience. 

Sources:

1. Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. N.p.: n.p., 1936 Print.

2. Clark, Josh. "Why Do Music and Art Move Us?" How Stuff Works. InfoSpace LLC, 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 June 2016. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/music-and-art-move-us1.htm>.

3. Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-386. Web. 29 June 2016.

4. Davis, Lauren. "How Disney Will Make You Cry Again With Big Hero 6." io9. Gizmodo, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 June 2016. <http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-disney-will-make-you-cry-again-with-big-hero-6-1630115219>. 

5. Kusahara, Machiko. "Robotics Machiko Kusahara 1." YouTube. uconlineprogram, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 June 2016. < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU>.

6. Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics Part 2." YouTube. uconlineprogram, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 June 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk>.

Images:

1. Kevin. Traditional-art vs Digital-art. Digital image. Deviant Art. Deviant Art, n.d. Web. 30 June 2016. < http://chukadrawer.deviantart.com/art/traditional-art-vs-digital-art-181779589>.

2. N.d. Today. By A. Pawlowski. NBC News, 2 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 June 2016. <http://www.today.com/health/your-brain-movies-why-films-make-us-cry-flinch-cheer-1D80258284>

3. Walker, Alissa. Robots that Inspired Big Hero 6. Digital image. Gizmodo. Gizmodo, 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 June 2016. <http://gizmodo.com/8-real-life-robots-that-inspired-big-hero-6-1643663925>.