Robotics + Art
As I watched the lectures this week, I considered
what I know about Robots. I realized
that my knowledge, if you can call it that, has been gained through popular
media, movies in particular. Films came to
mind such as Star-Wars, The Terminator, RoboCop and others. A favorite of mine is WALL-E, the Pixar animated
film. Pixar movies tend to be geared
towards children. But in the case of
WALL-E, Pixar creatively incorporates adult concepts and references regarding
humanity’s future in regards to robots and technology.
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Wall-E examines a Rubix Cube
Ev-a and other robots taking control
My focus here is on industrialization in
regards to WALL-E. The movie is set in
the year 2805, and WALL-E is left alone on the Earth. All humans have departed. They live in a spaceship, completely relying
on robots to direct and maintain the ship as well as run their lives. Humans have become obese and unable to care
for themselves. Though Pixar uses plenty
of humor, the film offers a disquieting look into a future in which humans lose
their independence. It offers a warning
concerning over-dependence on technology, industrialization and mega-corporations. The company that takes over life on the space
ship in WALL-E is named “Buy ‘n’ Large.”
The year 2805 taken over by Buy 'n' Large
Often in films,
the representation of technology is influenced by art. Not so in WALL-E. Pixar started with humanity’s growing dependence
on technology to create an exaggerated representation of where humans could be
headed if we continue in the current direction.
In WALL-E, technology drives the art.
Humans eating liquid food
Professor Vesna’s
lectures this week caused me to consider industrialization in relation to
robots. I now see the increase of robots
in society and our growing dependence on technology. I can’t but help think about the future and
how this reliance will affect our existence.
We must not let technology rule us and rob us of our humanity.
Sources:
Sources:
Weebly. Existential Analysis of WALL-E. 15 April 2016. Web. http://nkvdexistentialanalysis.weebly.com/insights.html
Stolyarov, Gennady. WALL-E: Economic Ignorance and the War on
Modernity. 15 April 2016.
Web. 4 July 2008.
“Wall-E: Science, Art
and the Meaning of Life.” Web log post. The Science
Bit. WordPress, 15 April 2016. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. http://nbarrie.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/wall-e-science-art-and-the- meaning-of-life/
Spiegel, Josh. The Greatest Feat of WALL-E. 15 April
2016. Web. 20 May 2014.
Nguyen, Huy. WALL-E: For All Ages, For the Ages. 15
April 2016. Web. http://www.cinemablography.org/wall-e.html
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I really liked your comparison of WALL-E with his weeks lecture. The contrasts and relations you made of how technology is the driving facto for art in the movie is interesting because it seems that many might look at it the other way. Your opinions on industrialization in regards to how technology could take over is interesting and is very prevalent in this movie. WALL-E depicts humans as completely reliant in the future on technology which seems like the way we are headed with people of foot scooters and their cell phones everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about my knowledge of robots. Most of what I know comes from media, especially films, and some high school robotics club demonstrations, which is why I chose to focus on the topic of robotics and art. I really liked your point about industrialization in regards to WALL-E. When I watched the movie, I only saw the humor in it, but your point about how the humans in the movie relied on robots for every part of their lives is very true. Scarily, it is also something that I have thought would happen in real life one day. While I think robots are amazing and can eliminate a lot of human error to keep humans safe (like with self driving cars), I also fear that humans a few generations from now will not know how to do anything on their own.
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