Week 3: Robotics + Art

This week’s lesson on robotics and art, especially through the lens of reproduction and industrialization, really made me reflect on how we view authenticity, identity, and our connection with machines. Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction argues that mass-produced art loses its unique "aura," its original presence in time and space. But Douglas Davis challenges this in The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (1991–1995), claiming that digital art doesn't erase aura, it transforms it. In an age where technology personalizes everything, our relationship with machines is no longer cold or distant; it’s deeply emotional and intertwined with our identities.







Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. YouTube, uploaded by Then & Now, 8 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=blq9sCIyXgA&t=24s. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Two films came to mind: Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021), a Disney animated movie, and M3GAN (2022), a horror-thriller. Both films explore what happens when we give robots too much influence over our personal lives, especially for children.

In Ron’s Gone Wrong, a glitchy robot becomes a boy’s unexpected best friend. Instead of being perfect and efficient like other robots, Ron’s flaws make him feel more human. Ron, though mass-produced, becomes special because of his imperfections and emotional connection to Barney. This reshapes Benjamin’s original argument, maybe "aura" isn’t lost in mass production, it just looks different now.










Funderburk, Kala. "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Ron’s Gone Wrong." Disney News, 21 Oct. 2021, https://news.disney.com/rons-gone-wrong-behind-the-scenes-look. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

M3GAN, on the other hand, flips this idea into something terrifying. M3GAN is designed as a perfect AI companion for a child, but her autonomy grows dangerously fast. The film shows how much we rely on technology and how we sometimes let machines handle our emotions and relationships. This connects to Benjamin’s idea that as we use more machines, we risk losing real human connection and control.








McLaughlin, Emma, and Nicola Kraus. "How Realistic Is M3GAN?" Popular Mechanics, 13 Jan. 2023, www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a42420374/how-realistic-is-m3gan-doll/. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

This tension is echoed in Hod Lipson’s TED Talk, “Building Self-Aware Robots,” where he explores how robots are now learning to imagine themselves and adapt like living beings. As machines get smarter and more human-like, it pushes us to question not only what robots can do, but how much of our humanity we’re willing to hand over.

Work Cited:

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Translated by Harry Zohn, Schocken Books, 1968. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.


Bradshaw, Peter. Ron's Gone Wrong review – a cheeky tech spin on ET. The Guardian, 9 Oct. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/09/rons-gone-wrong-review- 


Davis, Douglas. The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991–1995). Leonardo, vol. 28, no. 5, 1995, pp. 381–386. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1576221. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.


Lipson, Hod. Building "Self-Aware" Robots. YouTube, uploaded by TED, 25 Nov. 2011,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=blq9sCIyXgA&t=24s. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.


“M3GAN.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3GAN.


Media Cited: 

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. YouTube, uploaded by Then & Now, 8 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=blq9sCIyXgA&t=24s. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.


Funderburk, Kala. "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Ron’s Gone Wrong." Disney News, 21 Oct. 2021, https://news.disney.com/rons-gone-wrong-behind-the-scenes-look. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.


McLaughlin, Emma, and Nicola Kraus. "How Realistic Is M3GAN?" Popular Mechanics, 13 Jan. 2023, www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a42420374/how-realistic-is-m3gan-doll/. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.




Comments

  1. Caleb WalkerApril 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM

    Hello Paige, I enjoyed your week’s post on Robotics + Art! I Like the part you highlighted from Walter’s work about the emotional and intertwined technology is to our identities. I liked your example of the animated film Ron’s gone wrong and how you relate it to the “aura” that isn’t lost during mass production. Good job!

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