Sympathy for the Machine

My battery is low, and it’s getting dark.
—
The saddest piece of art I’ve ever seen is about a robot.

Actually, it is a robot. It’s a mechanical arm by artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu that must continually push a leaking liquid back into its body to function. And here’s the thing — I know, rationally, this art installation is not alive. Like every machine, it is, by definition, something artificial.

And no matter how advanced robots become, they’ll never have… souls. Right?

0:00 Sympathy for the Machine
1:00 The Consciousness Paradox
3:16 Born Without a Soul
5:46 The New Servants?
7:58 The Great Robot Uprising
10:59 Please Use Wisely*
13:08 War Machines
15:49 Can’t Help Myself
17:30 Uncanny Valley
19:20 The Turing Test
21:58 AI and the Future
23:45 What Happens Now?

Media Shown: Star Trek, The Next Generation, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, Metropolis, Able Mable (BBC), Leave it to Rollo, Mass Effect, Neo Tokyo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Animatrix, The Matrix, The Last Bastion, Termination 2, War Games, The Iron Giant, Pluto, Castle in the Sky, Elysium, Oblivion, I, Robot, Lost in Space, Wall-E, Boston Dynamics, Her, Ex Machina, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Music Used: A New Home (Metro Exodus), The Timefall (Death Stranding), Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven), Your Body Betrays Your Degeneracy (Disco Elysium), Burning Man (World of Goo), Turned Around (Signalis), Main Menu Theme (Metro 2023), Main Theme (Xenoblade Chronicles), Promise (Okami), An End Once and For All (Mass Effect)

♫ Additional Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
The Night He Came Home

Sources:
Robot Ethics By Mark Coeckelbergh https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo…
AI Companions: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2…
Turing Test: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-2…
Robot Empathy: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/human…
Can’t Help Myself: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/34812
*Yes I know that’s rendered footage of Curiosity not Opportunity, there is no footage of Opportunity from NASA that I could find

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The Untold Story Behind This Iconic Masterpiece

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Enormous tree over a graveyard.

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Truly a beautiful human inside and out…we can learn from her

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Winners of 1839 Awards Celebrating the Power of Color Photography | My Modern Met

By Jessica Stewart on June 18, 2024

Unsupervised” by Alexandrena Parker. Overall Professional Winner and Professional Winner, Conceptual, People, Storytelling.
“The sight of children engaged in unsupervised play, left to their own devices in the streets, has become increasingly rare. Set in outback Australia, the scenes weave together the past and present, symbolizing the relationship between the landscape and the timeless essence of childhood.”

Photographers from 55 different countries entered and these are the best of the best.

Named for the year that photography was first made widely available to the public, the 1839 Awards holds a series of photo contests to highlight the medium. Photographers from 55 different countries entered the Color Photography Contest, which is open to both professional and non-professional photographers. The results, which were just announced, are extraordinary.

In the end, two different conceptual series won the overall prize. For the professionals, Alexandrena Parker was named the overall winner for her images of unsupervised children playing outside, a rare sight these days. Astrid Reischwitz‘s fascinating look at her heritage, which combines photography and embroidery, won her the top prize in the non-professional competition.

There are many hidden gems among the category winners. From a playful plate of pasta to a striking look at the war in Ukraine, the competition highlights the impact that color photography can have on our view of the world. […]

Spaghetti Stylist” by Yuliy Vasilev. Winner, Professional, Still Life.

“Passion” by Sandra Paul. Winner, Professional, Animals.

More: Winners of 1839 Awards Celebrating the Power of Color Photography

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Doghoven.

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Thread of before and after photos

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Bug spray billboard designed to trap insects

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Modern Art

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Zabala – URTU

URTU is my latest collaboration with Bilbao-based composer Zabala.

I explore the fascinating world of Chinese opera troupes in Bangkok and the urban landscapes of the city, including footage gathered from short trips to Penang and Phnom Penh.

Previously featured on Nowness Asia:

nowness.asia/series/nowness-experiments/zabala-urtu-rafa-zubiria-music-film

Filmed and edited by Rafa Zub / @rafazub
Music by Zabala / @zabala.music

Many thanks to the opera troupes, Lai Heng Giah Tuang, Sai Yong Hong and Poh Teck Tung Foundation, who kindly invited me backstage to portray their world. Special thanks to Charlie Lew, Dream, Claire and Pin!

rafazub.com
zabalamusic.com

 

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