Walter Benjamin Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproducibility
"The Piece of work of Art on the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" past Walter Benjamin was published in 1936, the inter war period. "Having experienced Fascism and the fascist utilise of media in Germany" [from Media & Cultural Studies Keyworks ed. by Durham and Kellner] Benjamin speaks to the transformation of the Marxian superstructure which he observed "has taken more than a half century to manifest in all areas of culture the change in the conditions of production". Reflecting on the part of art in the 20th century, he explores a theory of fine art and the "useful formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art." [Preface] Since offset reading this essay fifteen years agone, I've ever been struck by its prescience and continual resonance in the digital age, and so please forgive the length of this provocation beyond the recommended 2-3 paragraph blog post.
Benjamin asserts that the work of art has always been reproducible, just is quick to bespeak out that mechanical reproduction, i.e., Marxian Capitalist mechanistic reproduction, through photography and film, represents something new. Benjamin discusses the profound repercussions that reproduction of works of fine art through photography, and the 'art of the movie' have had on fine art in its traditional form. [Section I] Given this context, what are your thoughts on Benjamin'southward statement that "even the about perfect reproduction of a work of art is defective in ane element: its presence in time and infinite, its unique existence at the identify where it happens to be," or in Benjamin-ian terms, its "aura". [Department II] Benjamin further clarifies and defines the term "aureola" of the work of art every bit "that which withers in the historic period of mechanical reproduction". Practise you agree or disagree?
For this provocation, I'll employ an example from art: does Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa stop to be the Mona Lisa if nosotros remove her from the rooms in which Leonardo painted and her patron intended her or the Louvre where she has resided for many centuries and still resides today? For example, more specifically, an enlarged and interactive Mona Lisa is currently on display in the windows of mode conglomerate LVMH at fifth Ave. and 57th Street and she even winks. She is featured in a collection of luxury leather products designed past artist Jeff Koons entitled "MASTERS" that retails for approx. $585.00 – $4,000.00. Here'due south a recent photo of the display:
Mona Lisa is likewise currently on display at my local mall via a jacket blueprint:
Do you think such reproduction erodes, or conversely, enhances the Benjamin-ian aura of this work of art?
Benjamin attributes social bases for the "contemporary decay of the aura" and that these "rest on 2 circumstances, both of which are related to the increasing significance of the masses in contemporary life." [Department III] What are your thoughts on this?
While the contemporary cult of the Mona Lisa carries on in our modern fashion world today, Benjamin states that "originally, the contextual integration of art in tradition found its expression in the cult" and he clarifies, "in other words, the unique value of the 'authentic' work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value" and he proceeds with "an all-of import insight: for the first time in earth history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual." Benjamin so points out a paradox that "to an ever greater degree the work of fine art reproduced becomes the piece of work of art designed for reproducibility." Cautioning, he qualifies this with: "But the instant that the criterion of actuality ceases to exist applicable to artistic production, the total role of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on some other practice – politics." [Section Iv] Do you lot think the mail-millennial function of art is i of ritual, politics or both? Can you cite examples of works of art to illustrate your point of view?
The Cyberspace, and our utilise of it, are for united states, in my opinion based upon Benjamin, the ultimate mechanical reproduction of art and exhibition infinite (another important concept to Benjamin). Acting as the mass which "is a matrix from which all traditional behavior toward works of art problems today in a new form" [Section XV] the Internet'southward inherent mechanical reproduction is the ultimate emancipation of art, and I'd add, also its paradoxical enslavement of art to the new rituals of clicking, copying, pasting, scanning, uploading, downloading, swiping, posting, re-posting, tweeting, re-tweeting, liking, favorite-ing and deleting.
While it is easy for me to grasp the degradation of the Benjamin-ian aureola in the piece of work of art, because all one has to do is photocopy the Mona Lisa from an art book or copy it from a website and run into the loss of resolution and aesthetic quality with each generation, 1 must ask rhetorically how Benjamin foresaw this without the do good of Xerox, Photoshop, the World Wide Web, apps such as Instagram and filters. Do you find "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" as forrad thinking as I do? Does it hold upwards in the digital age?
I cannot overlook that this provocation is assigned and intended for the readings for our Sept. eleven class, and information technology brings to mind some remarks made by the author of "Prozac Nation" Elizabeth Wurtzel. They struck me then and even so practice now, equally reminiscent of the Epilogue in which Benjamin theorizes that war is the ultimate work of art. Wurtzel was asked about the events of Sept. 11, 2001 in Feb 2002 during an interview to promote her book More than, Now, Once again past the Toronto Earth and Mail in the context of her residency close to the World Trade Center, and she commented as follows: 'I had non the slightest emotional reaction. I idea, this is a really strange art project…information technology was a most amazing sight in terms of sheer elegance. Information technology fell like water. It simply slid, like a turtleneck going over someone's head.' (Her comments gear up off a shock wave and probable caused her picture for "Prozac Nation" made by Miramax not to exist released.) For me, these comments brought to heed words of Benjamin I have difficulty typing and relaying that "war is beautiful" and that "through gas warfare the aura is abolished in a new fashion." Writing in his time and place, Benjamin quotes Fascism "Fiat ars – pereat mundus" (translation: let art be created, though the world perish) which was the Fascist spin on "l'fine art pour l'fine art" (art for art'southward sake) and concludes by conjecturing "war to supply the creative gratification of a sense of perception that has been inverse past engineering science." [Epilogue] Practise you lot discover this to be the logical and probable postal service-Marxian evolution?
Related Video Clip: Does this video of LVMH's Titian window (detail from the painting of Mars, Venus and Cupid) decay its aureola or heighten it?
Related Resource:
"Jeff Koons'south New Line" by Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times, April 11, 2017
"The Louis Vuitton 10 Jeff Koons Bags May Exist My Least Favorite Designer Collab E'er" by Amanda Mull on purseblog, Apr 13, 2017
"Release Me" by John Harris, The Guardian, July 17, 2004
"Mona Lisa & an Iguana on fifth" by Carolyn A. McDonough, on CultureArtMedia, September one, 2017
Source: https://itpcore1fall2017.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2017/09/07/the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction-by-walter-benjamin/
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