Compositing Big Ideas Project

Compositing Big Ideas: The Cyborg

Artist Statement

This digital composite was inspired from the big idea of cyborgs in Robert Sweeny’s “Lines of Sight in the Network Society.” In his article, Sweeny discusses how humans and computers are merging. People create alter egos on the Internet and computers take on human characteristics as technology advances. In this picture, I have a cyborg rising from a graveyard of old computers. This is supposed to show obsolete technology of the past in contrast to the technology of the future, being the cyborg. In Japan, holographic pop stars called vocaloids are all the rage. This to me is the definition of humans and computers merging into one being. In my composite image, I have an image of a holographic performance art which takes the shape of a halo on the cyborg’s head. There is also a woman on the top left of the image who is being engulfed by a green light, which symbolizes technology. The woman is reaching towards the matrix as she is being transformed into binary. This symbolizes mankind’s constant searching for new technological advances as we become more connected to computers. I find this process very unnatural and a bit scary, which is why the background of my image is apocalyptic.