Project 1 - Robots ( artists and issues )

I sought out artists whose passion and belief of integration between art and technology allowed them to push borders and challenge preconceptions.

Max Chandler was the first artist I uncovered whose philosophy on robots intrigued me.

www.maxchandler.com (Gallery), www.artwithrobots.blogspot.com (Blog)

"Robot Art is a large topic. I make robot generated art, that is, I use the robots to extend the kind of marks that can be made. The robots are tools that increase the mathematical precision of the marks and create opportunities for random and beneficial accidents. The robots also contribute to making an art that is uniquely 21st century."

His gallery contains art in many medias all produced from his collection of robots. Chandler has a very liberal and new age view on his work, he speaks of combining art and technology and of both the artist's and the robot's roles. He creates sophisticated images using a wide range of techniques and constantly evolves his practice.



From his work I realised the evolving possibilities when a life has been dedicated to robotics art ,although we are unlikely to achieve the same level of sophistication in such a short space of time I am still inspired by his work and the especially the idea of robots as the 21st century artist and how this may be threatening because of many preconceptions held by the public.

The second artist that I found was Leonel Moura.
www.lxxl.pt/artsbot/ www.leonelmoura.com

"We can make the machines that make the art. We can create a non-human life devoted to the artistic realm. That is, art as it could be.
The art of the 21st century."

With an impressive and varied number of works displayed on his website and a number of ideas about preconceptions and the link between art and science it is Moura who introduced me to the word 'Anthropocentrism.'

"Anthropocentrism is either the belief that humans are the central and most significant entities in the universe, or the assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective." It is not uncommon to see this theme portrayed in science fiction, it is the equivalent of race supremacy and seems to make up a central theme in many books and movies. Popular and recent movies such as 'Avatar' and 'District 9' use this theme as a metaphor as well as classics such as 'Star Wars.' It seems to incorporate both fear of and assumed superiority over non-humans be they animals, aliens or robots.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a4Aq15HYAo

In the course of my research I have uncovered both some inspiration and knowledge on types of art that could be created and possible ways of programming the robot to achieve the desired end result. I also love the idea of anthropocentrism as a theme or issue I think there is a wide perception of robots providing a threat of some kind to humans, it may not be a front of mind issue but movies such as 'Terminator' and 'The Matrix' have put the possibility of machines taking over the world into the subconscious of many; this coupled with machines and robots having already taken jobs away from humans in some industries leads to a perceived threat, an issue that I would like to portray.