Watching Chronicles of riddick again made me think about the unusually prominent role that artificial eyes play in the sci-fi genre. Quite often we encounter eyes that shine with a non-human or super-human light, technologically augmented and enjoyed at cost.
Why this preoccupation with augmented vision? Profoundly, technology is a partner in the modern sensory experience. We see farther and more because of the channels we build to conduct information and transmit our experiences and knowledge. ”If only you knew what I’ve seen with your eyes,” says Roy Batty in Blade Runner, to his human creator Tyrell. Who is the owner of Roy’s eyes, or our own eyes and sensory experience? Science fiction offers an alternative to the gestalt notion of the human body, proposing that the vessels of our experience may not belong to a monolithic “us.” In Blade Runner, eyes appear luminous with reflected images that overlay the features of eye along with metaphorically, the experience of seeing. Think of the opening sequence as an example of this; the close shot of an eye, lit by the industrial fires. Roy sees just as we do: partly by the glow of Promethean fire and partly by the natural processes responsible for sight.
Promethean Sight
Sparks of technological creation define the dark region of the eye, a sensory void awaiting fulfillment. The brilliant eyes of the artificial owl in Tyrell’s conference room provide a related juxtaposition, between the seemingly real and the saliently artificial.
Something is out of place
Ridley Schott invokes this realistic image of an owl to communicate artificiality in the scene. The eye pictured here appears highly schematized, recalling HAL’s watchful eye in 2001: A Space Oddessy.
Hal 9000
Stripped down to a set of features minimally required to signal that it is in fact an eye, Hal’s sensory interface represents aesthetic efficiency. Technology has created an aesthetic cult of usability that praises a high signal-to-noise ratio over naturalism and richness. Will such an aesthetic promote sanity or madness? Hal embodies both – his logic underlies his will to murder. Hal is becoming human, experiencing the struggle between reason and personality, the ineffable abstraction of reason.