Art vs. Science
May. 1st, 2008 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrlichI'm no scientist. Not in any real sense of the word. I am, however, not completely ignorant either. I listen to reason (most of the time).
Thus we come to the crux of a conflict that I've been waging in my daydreaming moments. I thought that I would open those thoughts to you, oh Great and Powerful Intarwebs, and seek your thoughts on the subject.
I've encountered a number of different articles over the years about different ways in which technology is replacing humans in the world of art. While this has been happening all over the world in a number of different industries, the world of art seems somehow different to me. Sure - robots can do dangerous jobs on an assembly line. Sure - they can provide recon on the battlefield. But I've worked on assembly lines. You don't need anything more creative or intellectual than a robot. I'm thankful that I've never had to step foot on a battlefield, but I understand the value of technology there.
When technology replaces us in the world of art? That's where I start to get really twitchy. People are creating robots that create 'graffiti'. Other robots are going to conduct a symphony.
I guess when it comes down to it, there's something in me that feels it's alright when an artist uses technology to create art, but a very large part of me feels like it's very not ok when technology 'creates' something and we allow it to be called art.
I know. I'm being a purist. I know that humans created the technology, so it could be argued that the final art is indirectly created by the real artist - the creator of the robot. It feels like watering down. It feels like the dissolution of what makes humanity something more than all the other creatures on the planet. It feels like we're willingly saying that there's no such thing as creativity.
And suddenly I feel like I know how those who are devoutly religious feel when confronted with the concept of Faith vs. Science.
I would really like to get some feedback here folks. How do you feel about this?
Thus we come to the crux of a conflict that I've been waging in my daydreaming moments. I thought that I would open those thoughts to you, oh Great and Powerful Intarwebs, and seek your thoughts on the subject.
I've encountered a number of different articles over the years about different ways in which technology is replacing humans in the world of art. While this has been happening all over the world in a number of different industries, the world of art seems somehow different to me. Sure - robots can do dangerous jobs on an assembly line. Sure - they can provide recon on the battlefield. But I've worked on assembly lines. You don't need anything more creative or intellectual than a robot. I'm thankful that I've never had to step foot on a battlefield, but I understand the value of technology there.
When technology replaces us in the world of art? That's where I start to get really twitchy. People are creating robots that create 'graffiti'. Other robots are going to conduct a symphony.
I guess when it comes down to it, there's something in me that feels it's alright when an artist uses technology to create art, but a very large part of me feels like it's very not ok when technology 'creates' something and we allow it to be called art.
I know. I'm being a purist. I know that humans created the technology, so it could be argued that the final art is indirectly created by the real artist - the creator of the robot. It feels like watering down. It feels like the dissolution of what makes humanity something more than all the other creatures on the planet. It feels like we're willingly saying that there's no such thing as creativity.
And suddenly I feel like I know how those who are devoutly religious feel when confronted with the concept of Faith vs. Science.
I would really like to get some feedback here folks. How do you feel about this?
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 08:38 pm (UTC)sorry to be returning late to this discussion. I've been busy for the last few days, but I wanted to keep the conversation going 'cuz it's interesting to me.
so...
how do you feel about electronic music? is it only art if someone is physically pressing the synthesizer buttons? can they use sequencers? digital delay? looping? how about drum machines? what about stuff that's entirely composed on the computer in advance and only played back later. is that art?
in such a case, the ultimate creator is a human agent but they are at a considerable distance from the final product - it includes sounds they couldn't produce themselves, precision that no human performer could achieve, and only such rough edges as the creator allows or programs in. but you listen to the first Nortec Collective album (for example) and tell me there's no art in there. go ahead. take your time. I'll wait.
I expect you can't tell me that, 'cuz you probably wouldn't believe that to be true.
and yet it's all or almost all the product of machines.
machines built and programmed by humans.
how about architecture? is that art? what if it's incredibly complex architecture which can only be produced with the assistance of high end CAD software? does the new Seattle Public Library (one of the twenty most fascinating and beautiful buildings I've ever seen) get tossed into the "not art" pile 'cuz it was designed using computers? or is it partly art and partly not - the part that the architect sketched out by hand is art and the part that they programmed the CAD software to do for them isn't?
if either of these examples are art, then why is a human building a machine to express their vision in other contexts (the ones you name on your original post) any different?
we're tool-using animals. I don't see much difference between a paintbrush and a robot except complexity and range of abilities. someone has to wield them both in order for them to be used to create something. the hand holding the brush might be harder to see (or the arm attached to the hand might get longer) but there's still human agency involved somewhere along the way.