Robotics + Art

I'd like to start off by quoting Walter Benjamin in two ways. Firstly he said, "Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be." Secondly Walter mentions that, "Mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art." Walter struck me on these two regard in realizing that, mass production and the internet has made art so readily available that it has over saturated our minds and lost it's quality amidst the unending quantity. 

Man Staring at Painting
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/41/113646283_d9fb9ae60b_o.jpg

Art used to be something that made you stop in your tracks and just stare in awe. Art is a medium of expression and it's supposed to make you think and admire. With the advance of technology and social media art has been very oversaturated as a medium.

Tumblr Feed
http://www.prophotonut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/inspiration_03.jpg

Websites such as Facebook, Tumbler, and even your email has a feed type mechanism that constantly spews out hundreds of pieces of art every minute. Our advances in cameras, editing equipment, advanced lessons, lenses, brushes, and more has made art so easily available that anybody can express themselves (and have it look damn good at that)! This over-saturation is a bad thing, because it has depreciated our appreciation of art. Where before we would stop and stare at a painting, we now click a tiny heart or a "Like" button. Art has become a passing moment, a beautiful Instagram post, a cute Facebook post, or even quick text to a friend. The admiration and self-thought has been replaced by displaced interest and a bridge to social connectivity.

Walter Benjamin
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2012/4/26/1335450968248/Walter-Benjamin-008.jpg

As I stated at the beginning of my post, Walter Benjamin mentioned two very important things that stuck with me. Mechanically reproduced artwork lacks the original's part in time and space and this reproduction changes the reaction of it's audience. Has what I described above not mimicked just that? The advance and spread of art to the world has definitely ruined the place and lasting appeal of individual works and instead creating a fleeting attraction to it that's forgotten after the click of the "Like" button. I'd like to part with a question to my readers. When is the last time you saw a work of art online and been drawn to it so much that you spent the day looking for it's name or the name of it's artist?

Banksy was the first artist I discovered through social media.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Banksy_Napalm_HR_400k.jpg

Citations:

Man Staring at Painting. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://farm1.staticflickr.com/41/113646283_d9fb9ae60b_o.jpg>.
Inspiration 03. Digital image. Pro Photo Nut. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.prophotonut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/inspiration_03.jpg>.
Walter Benjamin 008. Digital image. Guim. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2012/4/26/1335450968248/Walter-Benjamin-008.jpg>.
Banksy Napalm. Digital image. The Gnomon Workshop. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Banksy_Napalm_HR_400k.jpg>.
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.