ROBartICS

With the introduction of robotics comes new forms of artistic expression as well as much controversy. How a viewer receives an art installation using these technologies depends much on the background, purpose, and presentation of the piece. This section of the textbook did a good job of highlighting art which reflects both the positive and negative views people have towards merging the real and artificial.

From my experience, people enjoy using many computer-programmed technologies. Humans are comfortable with these technologies within a certain context, including the use of avatars in Second Life, controlling home systems (locks, heat, surveillance cameras, etc.) from a distant location, and even communicating with the smart phone intelligence navigator "Siri". Thomas Shannon's Squat, in which a sculpture responded to viewers by their touching of an ivy plant, is a good use of robotics in which the viewer is at ease (Art & Electronic Media). An installation such as raises questions regarding humans and their effect on their surroundings, but don't delve into the idea of non-human communication or surrogate agents.

When the terms "robot" and "surrogate" enter the picture, it seems that people tend to be more cautious. How a person views and/or interacts with art surrounding these topics varies greatly. However, in the proper context, a piece can have great emotional impact on a person and make them uneasy. Survival Research Labs proved this with Increasing the Latent Period in a System of Remote Destructibility (1997). This work modeled a probable future when robots acted in and of themselves and communicated with other robots and machines to create destruction. The intent was to forecast a possible reverse master-servant relationship between humans and machines, exposing the possible danger of surrogates (Art & Electronic Media). This is also a common theme in popular culture, such as the short stories series turned film I, Robot and famed 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Following the patterns in the past, as technology increases and robotics becomes more advanced, they will also become subtly streamlined into everyday life. There will likely be controversy along the way, that is to be expected. It will be interesting to see where it is implemented and more importantly, how it is implemented in the future.