Week 3 | Robotics and Art

 It was pretty cool to see Professor Kusahara talk about robotics in anime. I remember the humanoid robots from some anime I’ve watched, but I never really knew why anime had humanoid robots more frequently than American cartoons. An example of this is Transformers. In transformers, the robots are humanoid and can transform into vehicles (Ebert). 



Fig. 1. Transformers, 2007.


Although Transformers is an action movie that is designed for enjoyment, what Walter Benjamin has to say about the loss of art’s traditional aura is pretty interesting. He believes that the line between an original work of art and a copy of it has become blurred (Benjamin). This is the case with mediums like photography because the first print is just like 50,000th. A modern example of attempts to distinguish between the original and a copy are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) 




Fig 2. Bored Ape Yacht Club, 2021.


Backed by blockchain technology, NFTs can provide proof of authenticity through tracing the ownership of the token. This history of transactions can prove which digital copy is the original (Chaudhury). Interestingly, there is art that is being based off of the verification NFTs provide. The NFT collection called the Bored Ape Yacht Club, as seen above, is having a movie trilogy created about it (Boom). 


The reaction to this has been mixed. Those that support the usage of NFTs are enthusiastic about it, but there are those that argue against it. Due to the usage of the blockchain (and cryptocurrency in general), there is a significant amount of energy being used to verify the authenticity of the token (Calma). 


The debate over cryptocurrency’s role in creating a more decentralized economy is still ongoing, but one thing for sure is that new mediums of art are being created due to industrialization.





Fig 3. Cryptocurrency, 2021.


Works Cited

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

CreateSpace, 2010.

Boom, Daniel V. "Bored Ape Yacht Club is Getting Its Own Film Trilogy." CNET, 11 Apr. 

2022, www.cnet.com/personal-finance/bored-ape-yacht-club-is-getting-its-own-film-trilogy/. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

Calma, Justine. "The Climate Controversy Swirling Around NFTs." The Verge, 15 Mar. 

2021, www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

Chaudhury, Debarshi. "NFTs are Fueling Authenticity For Digital Assets And Have The 

Potential To Create New Use Cases." Forbes, 29 June 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/06/29/nfts-are-fueling-authenticity-for-digital-assets-and-have-the-potential-to-create-new-use-cases/?sh=7dfcd9671ffc. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

Ebert, Roger. "Transformers Movie Review & Film Summary (2007)." Movie Reviews 

and Ratings by Film Critic Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transformers-2007. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.




Comments

  1. Cheyenne SuzukawaApril 17, 2022 at 9:00 PM

    I really like the connection you formed between Walter Benjamin and the current state of digital art today, especially NFTs. I am personally not a fan of them, but it really is a good example of society trying to authenticate art to such an extreme that people are willing to pay large amounts of money for them. The first NFT minted was in 2014, so NFTs are quite a new phenomenon. I am also curious to see how differnt forms and mediums of art evolve.

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