Contexts: Themes in Art – Technology

CPS Week Seven

As the technological world develops its impact has also spread to art. From using robotics and artificial intelligence it’s allowed art to take on a different breath of life. The first instance of technology and art intertwining that I saw was Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s “I Can’t Help Myself” (2016). The sculpture is a robot that mimics a claw or an arm that has a large paintbrush or mop attached to the end. It a disturbingly repeats the action of trying to mop up the ‘blood’ like substance on the floor but creating more mess in the process by the mop slapping too hard on the floor or flipping upwards. It is a very disturbingly beautiful to watch a non-human object portray such a human emotion.

Sun Yuan and Peng Yu – I Can’t Help Myself 2016

Another instance for technology and art combining to create something beautiful is Anicka Yi’s “In Love With The World” which used AI to create aquamarine like floating objects that float through the air following their own path. Much like ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ the objects were able to move in such a flowing and naturalistic way.

Anicka Yi’s “In Love With The World’ 2021 – My own photograph taken in Tate Modern November 2021

Ai-Da is a robot created in February 2019 and by Aiden Meller. She draws with cameras in her eyes a robotic arm and an AI algorithm. Even the existence of Ai-Da challenges the idea of the boundaries of art and the future of human intervention and art. Ai-Da’s creation was inspired by George Orwells 1984 and was her creation was to warn against the abuse of technology.

Ai-Da and her self portrait – photograph taken from her own website

In 2019 we launched the Ai-Da Robot Project showcasing Ai-Da at the University of Oxford, the Barbican, the Tate, the V&A, the United Nations and the Ashmolean. We closed the art galleries to continue to develop this remarkable cutting edge project.

Aiden Meller (Aidan Meller – Created Ai-Da Robot and Project Director – Dedicated Arts Ltd | LinkedIn)

Sources;

Egypt detains artist robot Ai-Da before historic pyramid show – Egypt detains artist robot Ai-Da before historic pyramid show | Egypt | The Guardian

Aiden Meller Linked in – Aidan Meller – Created Ai-Da Robot and Project Director – Dedicated Arts Ltd | LinkedIn

Author: Daizi Davies

My name is Daizi Davies and I am 19 years old from Cardiff. I like to draw inspiration for my art from my personal life and the challenges I face day to day. I like to experiment with many different mediums but the common link that all my work has is that it is highly autobiographical. My main aim with anything I create is to tell a story and make whoever is viewing it feel something. I am currently studying Fine Art at DeMontford University and I hope to grow as an artist as well as learn new things that will help me in my future as an artist.

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