Zukunftsmusik
by Stephen Kane and David Kaplowitz
Group #3
Stephen Kane
My goal is to take certain well-known musicians’ songs/albums and relate them to the
technological atmosphere. Each picture is kind of a cover for a “single”. For example,
Rolling Stone’s song “Start Me Up” and rework it to “Boot Me Up” displaying a picture
of the band booting up from an electrical output source.
• Stephen Kane Pictorial Essay
• Group 3 Pictorial Essay
Stephen Kane
Image 1
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The year is 2042 and the
Rolling Stones just recorded
their latest groundbreaking
record. The hit song off their
latest album is entitled, "Boot
Me Up", an universally catchy
rock anthem about being
reliant on personal
computers. The single will be
available in stores at the end
of the month, released
globally. The cover of the
single, featured above, shows
the band performing live with
each of their personal
computers aiding them on
stage. The performance was
graced with rave reviews.
Image 2
•
Bruce is back with another track
dedicated to the lives of the
American workforce. In a day
and age where producing goods
is vital for a community's
livelihood and technology is
becoming more efficient, comes
a song to reflect and respect the
current state as well as the
historical formation. Bruce
Springsteen's song
"Manufactured In The USA"
shines a light on the production
business's techniques and
provisions that form us as a
society today. The cover art for
the track is depicted above, with
the setting of Bruce Springsteen
performing in front of a factory's
assembly line.
Image 3
•
In a recently discovered archive of home
demo tapes comes another socially charged
song by John Lennon. Surprisingly written
way before it's time, the song is a light
hearted reflection on the piracy aspects,
convenience, and overall accessibility of the
new future of listening to music from the
computer. The objective of the song is to
embrace formats such as mp3 as an effective
method to sharing and appreciating music.
John Lennon's, "I'm Only Downloading" also
serves as an insightful ballad dedicated to
the modern musician using technology in of
writing music. The cover of the song finds
Lennon writing on the piano, while uploading
recently recorded music to a file sharing site
via laptop. Until recently Lennon's
knowledge of recording and writing music
using personal computers was unknown to
the public.
Sources
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Title Image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/BruceBorn1984.JPG
Image 1:
http://www.goldminemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/RollingStones641.jpg
http://www.swag-inc.com/shop/devo/devo-energy-dome-red.html
http://nyconvergence.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/r2d2_robot.jpg
Image 2:
http://media.cleveland.com/business_impact/photo/assembly-line-697f975601a24560.jpg
http://media.salon.com/2012/11/bruce_springsteen_rect-460x307.jpg
Image 3:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/images/2007/12/11/lennon_imagine_416x300.jpg
http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a06/jq/gs/connect-laptop-hd-tv-800x800.jpg
http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a06/jq/gs/connect-laptop-hd-tv-800x800.jpg
Das Unheimliche
A Stroll Through Uncanny Valley
by David Kaplowitz
Definition
The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of
robotics and 3D computer animation, which holds
that when human replicas look and act almost, but
not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a
response of revulsion among human observers. The
uncanny (Ger. Das Unheimliche - "the opposite of
what is familiar") is a Freudian concept of an
instance where something can be familiar, yet
foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it
being uncomfortably strange or uncomfortably
familiar.
Repliee Q2, an uncannily lifelike robot, developed by
roboticists at Osaka University.
Repliee Q2's progenitor, Repliee Q1-expo, an actroid, at
Expo 2005 in Aichi
Some theories about what causes this
revulsion or aversion:
• Mate selection, avoidance of selecting mates with
low fertility, poor hormonal health, or ineffective
immune systems based on physiognomy.
• Fear of death, consciously or subconsciously,
fearing reduction, replacement, or annihilation by
soulless, automatons
• Pathogen avoidance, defects indicate disease.
• Violation of human norms
• Religious definition of human identity
• Conflicting perceptual cues
Who worries about this stuff?
It's a problem that faces people who make video
games, animated/CG-driven films, toymakers,
and the makers of robots and cybernetic
organisms. For commercial acceptance and
popularity, many characters either need to look
more fake, cartoon-y, or more real -- thus they
need to get beyond the limits of uncanny valley.
So to have fun with this interesting subject,
wouldn't it be interesting if well-known
celebrities or musical icons were themselves
cyborgs or robots in disguise? Some might be
better at hiding their true natures than others.
Many attempts to fit in and just act like normal
will be made… All will happen with varying
degrees of success.
But someday the gap will be bridged and these cyborgs
may successfully assimilate to a level of acceptance, or
outright assimilation...
Thank you for listening!
Citations:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Unheimlich
e
• http://www.vg247.com/2012/07/10/uncannyvalley-will-always-be-a-problem-says-squaretech-boss/