Analysis Of Walter Benjamin's 'The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction'

Meaningful appropriation remains a vital precept of creativity and innovation. In the last 20 years, many artists have constructed knowledge in forms of contemporary art from both social and cultural sources. Artists have continuously remixed contents from certain cultures for new expressive purposes. It is often deemed by members of the originating cultures, that appropriation in the arts is disrespectful, as cultural elements become distorted and lost in translation. Meaningful appropriation however is often misunderstood and is mainly viewed as borrowing that is in some way inappropriate, unauthorised or undesirable. Although, artists in remix culture have not necessarily attempted to destroy cultures, but instead offer a new perspective to individuals by bringing divergent cultures together through art. Artists such as Stella McCartney, a designer famously known for her creation ‘Chinatown Plaid, 2013’ in fashion, utilises dominant creative strategies such as remixing and collaging of fabrics in order to convey her artistic vision, which highly compliments both the ‘Refugee’ work culture and female individuals as strong and resilient. In a similar sense, digital artist Michael Guppy remixes artworks using programs such as Adobe Photoshop in order to remove central elements from famous artworks, a reoccurring theme in his work in which he explores both the social and cultural side of technology and how it transforms society. Whereas, graphic designer Thomas Robson

The shift from Realism to Impressionism in the 19th century represented not only a change in form, but it also represented a shift in ideology. As one of our module videos notes, rather than focusing on accuracy and clarity, Impressionism emphasized “what the mind and the eye sees” and the “impression of light and color.” We will briefly discuss how the differences in the approaches of the Realists and the Impressionists had interesting implications for arts and how these ideologies can be applied to the ways in which believers and unbelievers interpret art.

With images, words, and sounds been almost endlessly reproduced and distributed, various critics of modern culture suggest that traditional ideas about art and authenticity are no longer applicable. The problem is said to have been noticed back in the 1930s in the popular essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction that was concerned about what would happen to the “aura” of unique works of art when photography and other techniques if anybody could make unlimited copies of images. With the rise of digital technology, copying ability became vast and complex and hence the idea of originality is thrown into

Throughout human history people used to capture the reality of their time, express their feelings and share their impressions by copying both literally or figurative the mundane. The so-called artists have had different impacts in society all along the centuries. Only a few are currently taught in school, although the reverberation of their work is still impregnated in XXI Century. Nowadays, the term ‘artist’ can be used in reference of painters, sculptors, writers, singers, choreographers and other professions whose production are considered valuable culturally speaking. One of the main problems is that their work produce such a magnificent impact on the audience the artist is set aside and usually forgotten as a person, so they feel their rights to be violated.

Christine Rosen, author of “The Image Culture”, talks about the way the human culture is changing because the world is now in an era dominated by the image. Another author that believes the image culture is tearing apart society is Torie DeGhett, who is a famous journalist who writes for the Atlantic. Christine Rosen is successful in her argument about image culture by successfully showing how technology, such as Photoshop, affects images, and by using examples of war and natural disasters to persuade her readers into realizing the dangers of the image and the “destruction” to come. Torie DeGhett is successful in her argument about visual culture by successfully using pictures of war and using examples from editorials in newspapers that didn’t print Jarecke’s photo to get readers to realize the modern fixation of the image and the long term dangers of visual exposure. DeGhett supports Rosen’s point that everyone has the power to create, distort, and transmit images which evidently alters people’s understandings and acceptance of what they see questionable by backing up Rosen’s views on the topic of

Vanderbeek’s art forms lead to the creation of a new type of audience that would experience art in a completely different way. These viewers would be, “enabled by the real time responsiveness of computer and telecommunication systems,” relying completely on technology previously unknown. He was also interested in how human civilization was effected by new technology which he called, “[the] metaphysical nuclear dilemma,”1 as technologies such as the atomic bomb were brought up in controversial discussions. Ideas such as these appeared in many of his works, as Vanderbeek was concerned with how people absorb the world around them. Contributing to his invention of a new system that some consider a precursor for how we share information through the use of the internet.

Photographer Elliot Erwitt once stated, “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” This quote has deeply guided me in my analysis of what I call a cycle of art creation. When one pays close attention to the artwork of a particular artist, one is able to distinguish certain details that prove it is the artist's work. To me, it is significant to be able to establish an artist as their own rather than just another person following the trend. Each artist, whether they notice it or not, has a series of repercussions in their art; there are details that continue to reappear in

In this era, magazines were a predominant source of information for the art world. Inevitably, Artforum, a renowned publication of artworks in New York, became more valuable economically and established enough authority to define who and what were the artistic trendsetters. Several artists were upset by the promotional aspect and exclusion of art in this media and inevitably rebelled against it by“appropriating [the magazine’s power] as a new kind of medium and exhibition space” (Allen 13). Thus, art progressed from a traditional form into one consisting of compositions which bore resemblance to advertisements, lists, maps and other unusual forms of data-based art (Allen 15). Artists’ newfound works of text became its own artistic documentation. Ultimately, Conceptualism challenged the boundaries of art and enforced new ideas of production. It turned the literal into an expressive state and allowed for people who were not artists to engage with the work (which dealt with political turmoil) and also opened up the opportunity to construct their own. The movement is still prevalent in current times and acts as a means for spreading awareness of social and political concerns--the same holds true for Frances Stark’s video

Reproduction can be a double-edged sword. It takes away from the awe of standing in front of what the artist touched, maybe just hours beforehand. This is an incredible feeling. I have seen great works of art in person and there is nothing quite as inspiring in seeing King Tut’s exhibition rather than looking at it in the National Geographic. When I see the same thing in a magazine or book, I am reminded of how much greater the experience was to behold it in person. Reproduction does however link the world together by

Overall Benjamin discusses the how mechanical reproduction changed the social function of art and how reproduced art is lacking aura. He states “Copies do not replace the original aura”. I too think it is impossible to find the same uniqueness of one of a kind art in any other kind of art. However, I think mass art such as film brings the public together because they all share the same interests and enjoy the same kind of

In postmodern world, digital media has made the access of ‘appropriation’ much easier and more open to designers in copying, stealing and borrowing ideas from other pre-existing artworks, but also revealing unconscious focus on possible rising of culture ownership, hierarchy relationships, significance of original and artistic copy right issues for ‘remix culture’

The contemporary art world has seen many changes throughout the years. Advances in technology, viewer outreach, and money has allowed for the visual arts to accelerate at a faster pace. With the advent of the Internet and social media websites, an implied growth of interests in the visual arts has been developing. One example of the impact social media has on the contemporary art world is the 2013 exhibition I Who Have Arrived In Heaven by Yayoi Kusama held at the David Zwirner gallery. Attendees waited three hours in line at a chance to participate in the Infinity Room and take a “selfie” to upload to Instagram, a popular social media application that is photo centric. According to a New York Times article written in 2013 for the exhibition,

In today’s society, technology and art go hand in hand. Art has been around for a long time but technology such as computers are still very new. These two mediums have comingled and now evolve and effect the other. Art has changed to reflect the vast improvements technology has contributed to communication and the ability to create using digital space. Technology has also changed with artist pushing the boundaries of what is technical possible in the digital realm. Much of today’s art is created and presented in digital formats. The question of whether digital art is truly art has risen among many critics in the art community.

These technological innovations however, have allowed artists to combine traditional forms with new electronic techniques to produce unique and exciting works of art. The computer has increasingly become a versatile tool for digital artists. Many artists are creating dynamic and flexible works of art through computer networks. The digital age is creating a new movement in the art world and the computer is becoming a symbol for this revolution. The future of Digital art is tremendous and it has the capability of transforming how art is defined and created. It is not the tool that determines what is art, but the artist and their personal vision and style. The complexity and diversity of the new digital media will be challenging to artists and allow them a new means to express their vision of the world.

Benjamin’s death in 1940 at the age of 48, is rumored to be a suicide when the Naza’s took office, but is still a mystery. His ideas and concepts however, would live on for decades to come. Much of what he wrote about when discussing art came essentially after the development of photography and film. In his work, “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Benjamin addresses his perception of the changes in art and the aesthetic experience congruent with societal changes. He writes with concern of how the great artworks are viewed after the introduction of photography and film. His idea of mechanical reproduction changed the art world as society knew it, particularly in how the public views artwork and the value of that work as more and more people are able to own, view and discuss it. This paper will specifically look at aspects of Benjamin’s groundbreaking essay and how educators can relate his ideas to the practices in their art classrooms.