1 00:00:39,671 --> 00:00:41,631 Like millions of others, 2 00:00:41,713 --> 00:00:45,463 I'd heard Zima announce the unveiling of his final work of art. 3 00:00:46,630 --> 00:00:51,340 Over the years, I'd asked many times for interviews and was always rejected. 4 00:00:51,463 --> 00:00:54,423 Now, for whatever reason, 5 00:00:54,546 --> 00:00:58,506 Zima Blue had requested to speak with me. 6 00:00:59,671 --> 00:01:05,591 I couldn't decide whether the blue was a closer match to the sky or to the sea. 7 00:01:06,380 --> 00:01:07,630 Neither, really. 8 00:01:08,380 --> 00:01:12,630 Zima Blue, it was a precise thing. 9 00:01:14,505 --> 00:01:17,005 Little is known about Zima's history. 10 00:01:17,546 --> 00:01:21,126 It was said that he started his art career in portraiture, 11 00:01:22,255 --> 00:01:26,255 but for Zima, the human form was too small a subject. 12 00:01:27,046 --> 00:01:30,666 The search for deeper meaning caused him to look further... 13 00:01:32,380 --> 00:01:34,340 to the cosmos itself. 14 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,590 That's how the mural work started. 15 00:01:43,171 --> 00:01:45,961 They were undeniably brilliant. 16 00:01:48,588 --> 00:01:53,208 One day, Zima unveiled a mural that had something different about it. 17 00:01:54,546 --> 00:01:59,336 In the middle of the canvas was a tiny blue square. 18 00:02:00,046 --> 00:02:02,166 The square was just the beginning. 19 00:02:02,505 --> 00:02:04,545 Over the next several decades, 20 00:02:04,630 --> 00:02:08,210 the abstract shapes changed and became more dominant. 21 00:02:08,796 --> 00:02:11,956 But, always, the shade of blue was the same. 22 00:02:13,088 --> 00:02:14,708 It was Zima Blue. 23 00:02:15,380 --> 00:02:21,010 Before very long, Zima unveiled the first of his entirely blue murals. 24 00:02:21,755 --> 00:02:25,665 It was considered by many to be as far as Zima could take things. 25 00:02:26,755 --> 00:02:28,705 They couldn't have been more wrong. 26 00:02:31,255 --> 00:02:34,255 When most people speak about his Blue Period, 27 00:02:34,338 --> 00:02:39,008 they mean the era of the truly huge murals... 28 00:02:40,213 --> 00:02:43,133 but Zima was just getting started. 29 00:02:48,963 --> 00:02:54,463 It was a certain level of spectacle that made Zima truly famous, 30 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,460 even to those with no interest in art. 31 00:03:00,713 --> 00:03:02,843 But fame was never the point. 32 00:03:06,588 --> 00:03:11,088 In spite of all his success, Zima was still dissatisfied 33 00:03:12,546 --> 00:03:18,666 and what he did next was, for many, too extreme a sacrifice to make for art. 34 00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:29,340 Glad you could make it, Claire. 35 00:03:30,630 --> 00:03:31,630 How was the flight? 36 00:03:33,963 --> 00:03:35,213 Relax, Claire. 37 00:03:36,421 --> 00:03:37,511 Hi. 38 00:03:38,546 --> 00:03:41,756 Some people find me intimidating, but they quickly get over it. 39 00:03:42,463 --> 00:03:46,513 It's been over 100 years since I've spoken to the press. 40 00:03:46,588 --> 00:03:51,048 I've invited you here because I want you to help me tell my story. 41 00:03:52,130 --> 00:03:54,210 Shall we take a little walk? 42 00:03:56,130 --> 00:04:00,210 He was a handsome man, even after all his transformations. 43 00:04:00,921 --> 00:04:03,381 There was a planet called Kharkov Eight. 44 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,460 It specialized in illicit cybernetic modifications. 45 00:04:09,255 --> 00:04:13,085 He underwent radical biological procedures 46 00:04:13,171 --> 00:04:16,631 that enabled him to tolerate extreme environments 47 00:04:16,713 --> 00:04:19,383 without the burden of a protective suit. 48 00:04:20,546 --> 00:04:23,626 His eyes could see in any known spectrum. 49 00:04:24,546 --> 00:04:27,046 He no longer breathed oxygen. 50 00:04:27,130 --> 00:04:31,090 His skin was replaced with pressurized polymer 51 00:04:31,171 --> 00:04:36,211 and so he ventured forth to commune with the cosmos. 52 00:04:39,421 --> 00:04:42,171 But what Zima eventually realized 53 00:04:42,255 --> 00:04:45,705 is that the cosmos was already speaking its own truth 54 00:04:46,088 --> 00:04:48,508 far far better than he ever could. 55 00:04:53,921 --> 00:04:56,761 My search for truth has led me here, 56 00:04:58,046 --> 00:05:01,086 to what will be my final piece. 57 00:05:02,421 --> 00:05:06,461 At last, I understand the thing I sought through my art. 58 00:05:07,005 --> 00:05:10,835 And what does this swimming pool have to do with that? 59 00:05:11,088 --> 00:05:13,798 It's not just any swimming pool. 60 00:05:14,713 --> 00:05:18,303 Long ago, it belonged to a talented young woman 61 00:05:18,380 --> 00:05:21,010 with a keen interest in practical robotics. 62 00:05:21,296 --> 00:05:25,416 She created dozens of robots to do odd jobs around her house, 63 00:05:25,505 --> 00:05:30,665 but she was especially fond of the one she'd created to clean her swimming pool. 64 00:05:31,171 --> 00:05:35,921 The little machine toiled endlessly, scrubbing the ceramic sides of the pool. 65 00:05:37,088 --> 00:05:40,548 But the young woman wasn't satisfied with the job it did. 66 00:05:41,005 --> 00:05:43,505 So she gave it a full color vision system 67 00:05:43,588 --> 00:05:46,708 and a brain large enough to process the visual data 68 00:05:46,796 --> 00:05:48,836 into a model of its surroundings. 69 00:05:48,921 --> 00:05:52,381 She gave it the ability to make its own decisions, 70 00:05:52,463 --> 00:05:55,213 to design different strategies for cleaning the pool. 71 00:05:55,838 --> 00:06:00,338 She continued to use the machine as a test-bed for new hardware and software. 72 00:06:01,130 --> 00:06:04,090 And by stages, it became more aware. 73 00:06:04,171 --> 00:06:06,761 Eventually, the woman died. 74 00:06:07,005 --> 00:06:08,705 The little machine was passed 75 00:06:08,796 --> 00:06:11,046 from one owner to the next. 76 00:06:11,588 --> 00:06:15,548 They added things, made modifications here and there and with every iteration, it became more alive. 77 00:06:20,338 --> 00:06:22,378 Became more... 78 00:06:22,921 --> 00:06:23,921 me. 79 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,800 This is that same pool. 80 00:06:28,171 --> 00:06:30,261 I had it dug up. Moved here. 81 00:06:31,296 --> 00:06:37,166 But you're a man with machine parts, not a machine that thinks it's a man. 82 00:06:37,255 --> 00:06:41,295 Sometimes, it's difficult even for me to understand what I've become. 83 00:06:41,796 --> 00:06:45,456 And harder still to remember what I once was. 84 00:06:47,546 --> 00:06:49,916 The blue of the tiles... 85 00:06:50,421 --> 00:06:53,551 Zima Blue, the manufacturer called it. 86 00:06:54,380 --> 00:06:56,630 The first thing I ever saw. 87 00:06:57,130 --> 00:06:59,090 This was where I began. 88 00:06:59,296 --> 00:07:03,296 A crude little machine with barely enough intelligence to steer itself. 89 00:07:04,130 --> 00:07:05,800 But it was my world. 90 00:07:06,088 --> 00:07:10,338 It was all I knew, all I needed to know. 91 00:07:11,505 --> 00:07:12,625 And now? 92 00:07:46,046 --> 00:07:47,796 I will immerse myself. 93 00:07:55,421 --> 00:07:59,961 And as I do, I will slowly shut down my higher brain functions... 94 00:08:09,838 --> 00:08:11,838 un-making myself... 95 00:08:19,296 --> 00:08:22,626 leaving just enough to appreciate my surroundings... 96 00:08:30,421 --> 00:08:35,801 to extract some simple pleasure from the execution of a task well done. 97 00:08:37,005 --> 00:08:39,875 My search for truth is finished at last. 98 00:08:43,990 --> 00:08:45,990 I'm going home.