Ace Eyegiene Detective Smorol checks in with a haunting video--a next-generation complement to one of our first posts.
From: sarah smorol
To: nericcio
Subject: Bjork and the Obscene Machine
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:49:05 -0800
Check out this video:
This Bjork video is based on humanoid robots and directly sexual content-One ends up asking ,do they really feel/enjoy this?, or: How far is a robotic receptive sensor from a physical human feeling? Both robots have human female anatomy(are women), and the title of the song is "All is Full of Love". Are these advanced robots experiencing a kind of love? It is curious to note also that the humanoids are constructed at the start of the video by other robots,(although more like something from a car factory),so the idea of creator or "string puller" is skewed. Interestingly, while the "women" kiss they are probed vaginally and simultaneously a probe massages their skull cavity or "brain". I think this fits in quite well with our ongoing Obscene Machine dialogues.
For a darker erotic robot vision, check out Tetsuo, a Japanese series of films by Shinya Tsukamoto, made in the late 1980's. Twisted. A youtube trailer is here. Be warned.
ReplyDeleteThis video, I will admit, tripped me out initially. I didn't really understand it's significance and just moved forward with my blog reading. Yet I revisited this video some weeks later and began to understand the layers of sexual attraction which are presented. One issue in particular really intrigued me; that of feminine love. Such as whether or not it is truly sex or if it's just sensual or if it really matters what the identification is so long as a mutual love desire is felt. I am an advocate for, if it feels good and right and both parties are consensual, who is to judge.
ReplyDeleteRobot sex. That in itself just sounds sexy, in a twisted-over the top-erotic kind of way. What we are presented with in this video is a kind of revolutionary impact that feeds our ever-bottomless pit of sexual fantasies, and one-ups the shit out of our typical "Girls Gone Wild"-esque cravings. Through the adaptation of the sexual behaviors that the video features, it raises the question, "Can robots manifest sexual personality traits?" Much like the creation of Mr. Scissorhands himself, the robots are created and pieced together through unknown scientific means (minus the cookie heart) and converge (quite literally) to draw attention to the idea that robots are just as sexually driven as us homo-sapiens.
ReplyDeleteLet me start out by saying that I really do appreciate Bjork and her art. I always have. This was the first time I had seen this video and I was extremely confused by it, but at the same time intrigued. I knew it was meaningful but I had to watch it a few times to figure out exactly what it meant to me.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I came to the conclusion that this videos is speaking about our attitudes toward sex as a culture. I believe it's asking us to think about whether or not sex is even meaningful anymore, or if we just do it in a robotic fashion.
I do think that America's attitude toward sex as a whole is becoming much too passive.
We pair up with anyone and everyone who is ready and willing. It has become mechanical.
Also, I believe this video touches on issues of gender and homophobia. Both robots are female, which says "Hey, it's ok to be gay, love is love."
Overall, I think Bjork is telling us to pair up with those we care about and stop selling ourselves to the highest (or lowest) bidder.
-Rosanne Adamo
Eng 493