Anthropomorphic

(Nam June Paik - Bakelite Robot, 2002) This robot was created in the mid-1980’s. It is a figure composed of scavenged materials such as LCD monitors, electric lights, and oil marker. The artist works with these series of nearly life-sized anthropomorphic sculptures depicting a timeline of incremental advancements in communication technologies. Paik uses these explorations to depict humans fused with technology - a vision that in many ways has come to pass today with technology fully integrated into almost every aspect of our daily lives. The robot is also a way for technology to access both art and pop culture. The old sci-fi fantasy of mechanical beings replacing the societal need for human labor was once a more distant concept than it is today.