Reading Response Week 6: Abstract Machines/ Hardware

When one ponders what hardware, or machines mean to them, they probably imagine a screw or bolt for hardware and maybe a washing machine, or a vehicle. I believe our understanding of these concepts will continue to change and evolve over time. To someone in 1880 a machine might equate to a steam engine, someone in 1960 a television set, and someone in 2015 they might think of a virtual reality headset or a computer smart phone. These concepts and ideas change exponentially with time as do their meanings for being machines. For instance machines usually have a task to accomplish, in recent years artists have taken a less conservative view on these types of things creating a artistic relationship with machines. Machines are beautiful tools for art as you can set a threshold and the machine will run its code accordingly creating something novel and inspiration provoking and it does this without hesitation it just makes the work or simply is the artwork in some situations. I feel our relationship with abstract machines and hardware will continue to progress toward the future and I wouldn't dare guess what it will be like. Could you imagine going to 1900 with a virtual reality mask and showing it to people, they probably couldn't even comprehend what they were experiencing. It is my guess that the future holds the same type of relationship to our current understanding of technology in general.