Abstract
The machine aesthetic had its origins in the emphasis on ingenuity and novelty in Baroque art. After the neoclassical period in the 18th - 19th centuries, the function of machinery (rational efficiency) was also accepted as beauty. In the 20th century, the aesthetic concept "form following function", marks the flourishing of machine aesthetics. Contemporary time witnesses the development of machine aesthetics into bio art and other forms of avant-garde art integrated with science and technology. The machine aesthetics reflect in different weight of truth, goodness and beauty and their different combinations in machinery, with truth being the key reference to science and technology. However, the extremity of machine rationality leads to machine fetish and the loss of humanity, which in tum undermines the function of machine, pushing the machine aesthetic back to the pure beauty of machine itself. This detour, however, does not interrupt the historical progression of machine aesthetics, as can be seen in the current trend that machine aesthetics are deeply integrated into arts. This trend, propelled by advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and life science, is persistently extends and revolutionizes the concept and implications of beauty.
First Page
177
Last Page
187
Recommended Citation
Liu, Qiong. 2020. "Variations on Art and Technology: From Machine Aesthetics to Bio Art." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 40, (4): pp.177-187. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol40/iss4/22
