Week 3: Robotics + Art

April 19, 2024

    This week's topic is the intersection of robotics and arts. It provides us with a very unique lean through which we can explore our society's response to industrialization. Walter Benjamin, in his seminal work The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, mentions that " What they intended and achieved was a relentless destruction of the aura of their creations, which they branded as reproductions with the very means of production"(Benjamin, 1936, 4). He argued that mechanical reproduction devalues the "aura" of the artwork. They believe the artwork should be unique, however, the robotics challenge this artistic vision.

  

                Figure 1. FRIDA: A Framework and Robotics Initiative for Developing Arts

    With the development of AI technology, robotics doesn't simply repeat the work that has been assigned anymore. They start a new era, "creative robotics". One of the examples is the painting robotic FRIDA. Different from the prediction from the public, their researchers have different aspects of this technology. Researchers said "FRIDA is not generating the ideas to communicate. FRIDA is a system that an artist could collaborate with. The artist can specify high-level goals for FRIDA, and then FRIDA can execute them" (Carnegie Mellon University, 2023). Obviously, robots are still an executor to illustrate the artist's idea. Also, currently, they are still at a very early stage of real-world applications.

Figure 2. Some of FRIDA's paintings (Left) compare with Mexico Painter Frida's painting (Right)

    The film Ex Machina(2014) is an amazing artwork that shows the intersection between art and robotics in different dimensions. The worries of the rapid development of robotics inspire the imagination of the artist. People outside the technology field have the opposite opinion with them. They worry will be replaced by robots or the robots will take over the world. The director, Alex Garland, uses color to show the path of Ava finds personality. According to Acelare, Ava changes her outfits from Gray to blue/red ( Caleb's original color), to bright colorful outfits (confident and powerful), and finally back to white in the forest( peaceful and true self). It fulfills the artistic attribute of this movie.

Figure 3. Robot Ava in the film Ex Machina

    I believe robotics is still a tool that is the product of industrialization. The goal of the industrialization is to serve people better. To release people from repeated, tedious work. With the development of technology, our human evolution, too. If we can enjoy using the computer to fasten and simplify our work, in the future, robotics either.

Figure 4. The Evolution of Tools

    In conclusion, the intersection between robotics and art shows the deeper development of our technologies. The process of industrialization cannot be stopped. As we continue to navigate the complexities of industrialization, art is not only a great application of our technologies but also remains a vital way to question and impact them.

Reference

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," 1936, https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf, Accessed April 19, 2024.

Acelare. "EX MACHINA: A Film Analysis of Color Symbolism," 2015, https://acelare.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/ex-machina-an-analysis-of-color-symbolism-in-film/, Accessed April 19, 2024.

CMUComputerScience. " FRIDA: A Framework and Robotics Initiative for Developing Arts," 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2vHvYgjiYg&t=49s, Accessed April 19, 2024.

TomorrowsWorldToday. "AI-Powered FRIDA Robot Collaborates with Artists," 2023, https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-powered-frida-robot-collaborates-with-artists/#, Accessed April 19, 2024. 

Garland, Alex. "Ex Machine," 2014, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/, Accessed April 19, 2024.