Paper Topic:

Do such transformations in art significantly alter possibilities of community -- and culture?

The Work of Art

in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction

In Walter Benjamin 's classic essay , The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction , he famously defined aura as that which is lost in mechanical production , a thesis consonant with wide range of discourses defending traditions (of various sorts ) from the encroachments of globalization , simulation , and capitalist commodification

He defines the concept of "aura " as that illusory presence which traditionally makes the work of art both unique and authentic . But "the unique value of the 'authentic ' work of

art has its basis in ritual , a fact that plays on two meanings of "ritual

First , the religious sense of the word suggests a superstitious attachment to the truth-value of a particular set of practices Secondly , the concept of ritualistic behavior has come to mean a repetitive , even compulsive repetition of procedures . When combined these two meanings tell the story of how a repetitive procedure can come to be associated with truth

Benjamin stressed that in principle , a work of art has always been reproducible . But it loses its aura and lacks one element when it is continuously reproduced . This pertains to its presence in time and space , its unique existence at the place where it happens to be

And the concept of reproducing works of art is highlighted by drastic and several advancements in the technology

Benjamin cited the technology of film and how it evolved from the ancient Greek and how it was able to reach its status today . In his example , he cited that during the ancient Greek , these people knew only two ways of reproducing several works of art . And this was done by either stamping or founding . The only art works which the Greeks could produce in quantity were bronzes , terra cottas , and coins . Because all other art works cannot be mechanically reproduced and were unique

The technology of engraving and etching were added to the processes cited above as the Middle Ages started . And then , the idea of lithography came into view at the beginning of the nineteenth century It was during this stage when the technology of reproducing art forms reached a very progressive status . As years passed , lithography was exceeded by a new technology : photography

For the first time in history , photography freed the hand of the most important artistic functions because it only dwells upon the eye looking into a lens . The process of pictorial reproduction was accelerated so enormously that it could keep pace with speech because the eye now perceives more swiftly than the hand can draw . At the speed of an actor 's speech a film operator shooting a scene in the studio captures the images . As lithography virtually implied the news consequently photography indicated the sound film . At the end of the last century the technical reproduction of sound was tackled

Up until now , technology has created so many alterations on several works of art . For example , when photography was invented everybody thought that that will be...

4 pages

34.0 KB

Free sing-up