Comments on: Visual artefact

By: Steph Cronin

Steph Cronin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:27:30 +0000

I like Geraldine am excited now to try Glogster – an interactive and exciting format. Honestly, I set the baby off cry way too soon and in a panic had to close the link down before going back in for another look. After making the same mistake another couple of time I got there!
I like connections of something that is very much human – a baby – being something unhuman/posthuman that signifying new advancements being born.

By: Ania Rolińska

Ania Rolińska — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:44:43 +0000

At some point I thought they would give the smart doll to the ‘baby machine’ woman to make up for the fact she is not allowed to have another baby.

I like the word play between a ‘baby machine’ meaning a robot baby (by the way, you can get loads of videos on youtube, just type in ‘real baby’) and one meaning a female who produces babies like a machine. Which of them is more robotic? Which is more human? Or maybe these distinctions should be dropped altogether? A great instance of blurring the boundaries between the human and the inhuman. Thanks Carol!

By: Geraldine

Geraldine — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:06:39 +0000

Hi Carol,

All the links worked for me just fine. I was particularly fascinated by the first computer program. It brought back memories of a previous life. I also enjoyed being able to roam around your poster – really must have a go with glogster!

By: Daniel Griffin

Daniel Griffin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:24:08 +0000

Brilliant stuff Carol!
This reminded me of the idea that machine intelligence, while still only in its infancy, is growing all the time. When I think about this stuff I wonder what life will be like in a future were we are no longer the smartest beings on the planet.

By: Carol Jane Collins

Carol Jane Collins — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:17:37 +0000

Thanks Austin, Grace and Sian. The newspaper link is now working so you can see the article in its full glory. I think the baby is either pre-natal training or one of those things to stop kids having babies too young by showing them how awful it can be!:) I think the ambiguity of the baby/machine metaphor is really interesting and reflects our ongoing fears about man and machine. I remember seeing a walking life-size toddler doll in Hamleys when I was a kid and being excited but also somewhat freaked out! On the theme of logic and man as machine, it’s worth checking out an old book, L’Homme Machine, by La Mettrie an 18th century materialist. He makes all sorts of claims for man as no more than a machine, and that an animal can be trained to be the same, talk like men etc. Fascinating stuff!!

By: Siân Bayne

Siân Bayne — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:27:59 +0000

This is great Carol! That baby’s a doll, right? It looked to me like a pre-natal training situation…? Love the ambiguity though and like Austin says, the crying is disturbing whether or not the baby is really ‘human’.

I wanted to link to the Daily Mail article (never thought I’d find myself saying that!) but couldn’t find it. Anyway – I get the point – this is a really clever mix of all that is disturbing about the posthuman, the machinic, technological and social as it impacts on our ways of thinking about procreation, mortality and the ‘human’ – terrific.

By: Grace Elliott

Grace Elliott — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:18:24 +0000

Hi Carol,

Yeah, it seems like we’ve made huge strides since the first computer but not made as big a leap with humanity. The newspaper link didn’t work for me and problems with my Internet connection meant that I couldn’t access the video but I remember well the sound of a baby crying.

By: Austin Tate

Austin Tate — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:31:44 +0000

Thanks Carol, I was able to get to the Visual Arefact link fine.

The baby crying video was just to much.. I had to turn the sound down.. so its an audio artefact as well. Now if we want an “unsettling” and “uncomfortable” sound that is one. The guy does not seem too concerned.