Artist Response #5: Ken Goldberg - The Robot in the Garden

I remember being introduced to the artist, Ken Goldberg, for the first time last semester in out 3D Animation class when we were working with projects in Maya. I really took an interest in Golberg’s project with “Telegarden” because I thought it was just a really interesting idea on how we can reach out and gain control over something from a distance. The fact that this was first established in 1995 is even more fascinating because I really didn’t even know that they had these kinds of capabilities with computers at this point regarding the capability of actually being able to program it to have the public have access to controlling the outcome and results of the project.

Goldberg bases his work off of his theory of Telepistemology, which is the study of knowledge that is acquired at a distance and is considered to be in the category of Telerobotics. And he says that his mission is to look at technology, especially the internet, as a form of communication that will helps us resolve our issues of disbelief. Over the years, the concept of the internet has formed a bit of disbelief amongst society where people are generally wondering if things are actually “the truth”. “Telegarden” is making us ask each other if the garden really exists and are the results valid. Ken Goldberg’s response is that the accessibility of the garden and its results are very real and that is what his project is trying to establish to form the overall idea that we should look at internet technology in a different perspective.

I really like Ken Goldberg’s way of thinking and the projects that he works with because it makes me think about the access of knowledge that we have on our fingertips. Information that has been created over centuries has now put us in the priviledged position to actually have control and make an impact. I don’t know, maybes it’s because I’ve kind of had a fascination with Telerobotics since I watched a documentary about the telerobots and advanced camera software to investigate the Titanic, but I think his work really does make us add significance to our belief in what the internet is capable of technically and conceptually.