The Show Must Go Home: Senior Thesis Exhibition Spring 2020

Anya Cappon

AUTOMATED USER
Anya Cappon

What is real, and what is a simulation have become progressively blurred as a result of our access to technology. Jean Baudrillard refers to this constant and meticulous recreation of the real as “hyperrealism.” The real is no longer classified by objects, and so we have increasingly integrated with the technology that produces these simulations. The simulations become part of our reality. Our Identity in the virtual world becomes just as real as our identity in the physical world. We are so immersed in the world of technology that we do not often pause to reflect on what it actually is, or what our expectations of these objects are. The smartphone is the most obvious extension of ourselves into technology. This is not only because we use it to access and update different forms of our identity, but because the phone itself becomes so connected to us that we notice immediately when it is not in our grasp. The purpose of the Automated User is to explore what technology is, and how we function with technology as a part of ourselves.
Considering that we have adjusted our lives around these objects and created a set of expectations around what we want them to do, we hardly realize the power of the little machines that we are holding. Their function then becomes more monotonous and obvious. We ask our smartphones to set alarms, remind us of things, call our moms, etc. they are our personal assistants and we do not realize how elaborate the technology that we are using is. These mass-produced and streamlined assistants are continually modifying and updating to become a part of us, so the user experience is becoming closer and closer to an extension of ourselves. These objects are vastly complex and they are designed so that the user does not have to think about their interaction with the phone.

I have created an extension of technology, an extension of the phone that serves no purpose, other than to interact with the phone in the most mundane way. In building my robot I am thinking about the aesthetics of technology, and the simplest tasks that we expect our technology to perform. This robot is barely functional and not at all practical, but it is manually set to perform a predetermined task. In my case, the robot is moving its arm/hand that is holding an iPhone. This task accomplishes nothing, but it is demonstrating the first and most basic interaction that we have with our phones. The robot itself is built entirely out of scraps, bits of metal strips of window screen, zip ties, tape, etc. Some parts of this sculpture are casts of my body: the ears, hands, toes, and heels are all wax and cement casts. In some ways, I am giving my identity to the robot, but mostly I am commenting on the lack of separation between humans and technology. The human-ish resemblance of the robot is also a reflection of our long-standing fascination with human-like machines. From automatons that perform as humans to computers with human voices, the drive to make technology that not only simplifies our life but also embodies humanistic aesthetics seems innate. For years, science-fiction has contributed to our curiosity around machines that are inseparable from humans. Philip K. Dick created a world where technology becomes “more human than human.” The aesthetic decision to replicate parts of my own body came from the notion in Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, that what is real and what is a simulation are inseparable. I am commenting on the idea of the uncanny valley by adding parts of my body to Automated User. The aesthetics of the Automated User are far from what one would expect in terms of a piece of technology. When juxtaposed with the phone that it is holding, Automated User can clearly be seen as an object in reality, and not as an access point to the simulation.

The materials used to create the Automated User are inspired by Tim Hawkonson’s moving sculptures, he uses an incredibly wide variety of materials to make his sculptures perform a function. In his works like Uberorgan, you can see almost every martial he uses; the simple materials that he uses come together to make a complex, working machine. In my piece, the materials continued to become a challenge, every part of  Automated User is built out of scrap materials. I made this piece with what I had, and I applied my crude understanding of how machines and technology work to make it move. My inspiration also comes from the history of making human-like machines; Automatons have been around since the 1700s. An automaton is a moving mechanical device that is made with the purpose of imitating a human.  Jacques de Vaucanson made a fully functioning flute player in 1737; he mimicked human anatomy in order to produce a machine that could play the flute. While Automated User is not nearly as elaborate or complex as the Flute Player, the method of creating this piece is astonishingly similar.
The clunky puzzled together robot is built with a predetermined set of instructions; the center drive has a cam that pushes the right arm in and out, and the uneven cam on the top of the pole coaxes the head to swivel back and forth. These two cams create a rudimentary sequence that tells the automaton to move, although the task is barely able to be carried out with the assistance of my hands turning the crank. An automaton that can hardly carry out its predetermined function does not meet the criteria of automation that we expect from the technology in our lives. By creating a predetermined function to do nothing I have built the antithesis of technology performing a task.

To learn more about Anya's work visit:
https://anyacappon.com

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