Women, Machines and Cyborgs

• Main Authors: Tung,Kai-Li, 童凱俐
• Other Authors: 林文海
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/76700191754306694079

碩士 === 東海大學 === 美術學系 === 102 === This “Women, Machines and Cyborgs” artwork intends to discuss the relationships between humans and machines spanning from the first creation of machines to the futurists’ praise of machines in the early 20th century. Later on “Machine Aesthetics” allowed machines to be displayed as a kind of artwork. Starting from 21st century, machines entered the Micromation era, and later the Internet cloud hyperlink technology accelerated the development. Human’s reliance on machines and Internet, no matter if the level of dependence is high or low, exists everywhere. Since the Internet’s virtual space has become the main communication channel among modern people, people are wondering if it is humans that rely upon machines or if humans are controlled by machines. This thesis is going to discuss the ambiguous boundaries between human and machines. First, the research motivation, purpose, extension and methodology of my artwork and research, and keywords and some specific nouns are explained. The Machine Aesthetics from an art history point of view is discussed to elucidate how machines are highly valued by art. On the other hand, the duplicated art crafts by machines are also discussed as they lack the uniqueness of originality and the spirits of artworks disappeared thereupon. It is debatable whether these duplications still can be called artworks. The theories will support a different angle to view these questions during the production of my artworks. The connections between machines and human beings are then discussed, and the Cyborg phenomenon among modern people is also included. Donna J. Haraway (1944-) proposed Cyborg Manifesto in 1985. In the Manifesto, she suggested that modern people were all considered Cyborgs. I adopted this concept to produce artwork and further explored the ambiguous boundaries between human beings and machines. Various kinds of machines brought people convenience, but on the other hand, gigantic machines, like half human half monsters, also created fears among people. Extending this concept to the 21st century phenomenon, we can say people are becoming Internet Hyperlink Cyborgs. Is the online virtual reality or the society in the real world the human beings’ actual life domain? This chapter is also my categorization of artworks to express several different connections between human and machines. At the end of this thesis, I analyze and elucidate my artworks by explaining how I produce concepts and styles to make the connection between human bodies and machines. After studying different robots and their mechanic structures, I adopted different techniques to present the different combinations between human and machines in my artworks. In the end, the combination of women and machines proved to be the most perfect one. During the process of artistic production and literature review, I read more and more about the connections between humans and machines. I also acquired a deeper knowledge of the development of machines, including the hyperlink technology of 21st century’s electronics, and how scientists are seeking to extend the human organism through the installation of a human brain in a robot. All of these ideas will provide a basis to express different concepts in my future productions.