Wang Zi Won from Seoul, Korea envisions a future when humans and robots merge into cyborgs. I tend to agree with him, and I discussed my thoughts on the issue early last year.  The work above represents a spiritual role in our Cyborg future.  Shin Seung-Ho (via Colossal) discussed the artist’s philosophy here:

“The artist considers it important to escape from human bondage in order to achieve harmony between men and machines. He thinks this harmony can be achieved through the process of religious practices and spiritual enlightenment. In Buddhism, the Bodhisattva of Compassion helps people attain enlightenment, Arhat is a spiritual practitioner of asceticism, and Buddha is a being who reaches the highest level of enlightenment. Through them, the artist intends to follow the path of enlightenment, breaking away from anxiety, agony, and pain. The artist has no intention to emphasize religious connotations through these Buddhist icons but to reflect his own or our own existence between utopia and dystopia.”

I’m curious to see the role religion takes in our future. Organized religion, at least, seems to be slowly disappearing in favor of philosophy and logic, but as long as the greatest questions remain unanswered, I think it will always play a part.

Here’s a video showing some of the art in action:

-RSB