Week 3 Robotics + Art

In “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin proposed the idea of how mass reproduction of artworks makes them lose their “aura.” Artworks are deprived of their authenticity and uniqueness by their reproductions and so do natural landscapes and even everyday objects.



Mass Production of Statuettes

While this is not the first time I have read this passage, professor Machiko Kusahara’s talk in this week’s lecture has inspired me to take a new perspective. In her talk about robotics and art, professor Kusahara discussed how the Western world and Japan hold very different attitudes towards humanoids and machines. Her talk made me think about whether the Western world and the Asian cultures may also view mass production differently, and it seems like Asian people might agree with Benjamin Walter. In the movie Spirited Away, the concept of spirit residing in almost every object and the emphasis on individual identities seem to suggest Japanese’ rejection of reproducing objects and depriving uniqueness, which might have stemmed from Japanese religions. Similarly, Buddhism also proposes that everything has a spirit and should be respected for its uniqueness.



Animate Soot Balls in Spirited Away

However, if Japanese people hold a positive attitude towards robots which can be seen as reproductions of human beings, they might also accept mass production. Considering their belief of spirits in a different way, they might accept objects reproduced as entities with unique spirits but have the same materializations. Even in the Western society, cars produced from assembly lines can have different personalities and be unique, as depicted in the movie Cars. Therefore, there is a possibility for both the Western society and Asian cultures to accept mass production in the future.




Animate Cars in Cars





Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Walter Benjamin. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.

Kusahara, Machiko. “Robotics MachikoKusahara 1.” Youtube, Uploaded by uconlineprogram, 14 Apr. 2012, https://youtu.be/xQZ_sy-mdEU.

N.d. Alamy. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/souvenir-store-in-new-york.html>.

N.d. Cars Movie Quotes. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/131308145357314543/>.


Sootballs. N.d. Sootballs. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://spiritedaway.wikia.com/wiki/Sootballs>.

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