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- 1. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 1936 Walter Benjamin
- 2. Walter Benjamin German, born in a Jewish Family. Modern Marxist thinker
- 3. Capitalistic Mode of Production Production of artwork today is completely different from the past. Marx talks about the capitalistic mode of production and believes that the capitalist system exploits the proletariat and finally abolishes itself one day.
- 4. Mass Production Mass production by the emergence of printing machine, lithography and photography. Just as lithography virtually implied the illustrated newspaper, so did photography foreshadow the sound film.
- 5. Mass Production Paul Valery: “Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to satisfy our need in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign.”
- 6. Mechanical reproduction Around 1900 technical reproduction had reached a standard that not only permitted it to reproduce all transmitted works of art and thus to cause the most profound change in their impact upon the public; it also had captured a place of its own among the artistic processes.
- 7. Mechanical Reproduction Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be (e.g. Mona Lisa, time, place, Louvre museum, decay over time ).
- 8. Mechanical Reproductionreproduction The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated. This holds not only for the art work but also, for instance, for a landscape which passes in review before the spectator in a movie.
- 9. Mechanical Reproduction The mechanical reproduction destroys the authenticity of the original work. The mechanical reproduction of an original artwork lacks its aura. the aura is that feeling and presence that can only be felt in the original work in its “presence in time and space.
- 10. Mechanical Reproduction The technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced.
- 11. Mechanical Reproduction The concept of aura may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones.
- 12. Mechanical Reproduction If, while resting on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the aura of those mountains, of that branch. However, if you take a photo of this scene and mass produce it, it lacks its aura or authenticity.
- 13. Mechanical Reproduction The reproduction happens because the masses in the contemporary life wanted to bring things closer. For example, they want to have Mona Lisa’s reproduction or the mentioned scene of nature in their houses (e.g., its photograph).
- 14. Tradition The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition. This tradition itself is thoroughly alive and extremely changeable. An ancient statue of Venus, for example, stood in a different traditional context with the Greeks, who made it an object of veneration, than with the clerics of the Middle Ages, who viewed it as an ominous idol. Both of them, however, were equally confronted with its uniqueness, that is, its aura.
- 15. Secular Cult of Beauty The secular cult of beauty, developed during the Renaissance and prevailed for three centuries. Modern doctrine: art for art’s sake. Intrinsic value of art. Art itself is important not its social, political, educational or moral functions.
- 16. Emancipation Mechanical reproduction emancipated art from the concept of ritual. In the past time, art was dependent on ritual and tradition but nowadays it’s related to the concept of politics. For example, Photography is an art and this art is created to be reproduced. Here ritual doesn’t matter. There are many photos that are related to politics.
- 17. Anti-war (political) photo How art is used to send ant-war message
- 18. Value of Art Value of art: cult value and exhibition value Cult: a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. Cult value wants an artwork to be exclusive and aims to hide it from public (Statues in sacred places).
- 19. Value of Art It’s related to this idea that art cannot be reproduced because if it happens it means that it will be produced in a different place and therefore will lose its aura.
- 20. Value of Art However, when the mechanical reproduction started, art began a shift from ritual value to exhibition value and many things changed. Exhibition value doesn’t want to hide an artwork from public eyes. It aims to reproduce art in different places and shows that the inherent value of art comes from its exhibition and the emotional responses of people that this exhibition causes are very important.
- 21. Positive Aspects The mechanical reproduction in photography and film: make art more accessible to public. In the past art had an elitist perspective and tried to keep distance from ordinary people. It didn’t allow the general public to enter its realm.
- 22. Positive Aspectsive Aspects However, mechanical reproduction destroyed these borders and make art accessible to all people. Also, the exhibition value of art makes it a political tool. Artists can use art to persuade their audiences and send some political messages to them.
- 23. Negative Aspects The mass-production of art and the lack of the aura can make the perceived value of the artwork less impressive and change the original meaning of the artwork. Also, we can see some errors in this mechanical reproduction. (Mona Lisa's copies). Errors in size, quality, cropping of the image, etc. These errors affect the artwork negatively and may change what the artist wanted to say, or they may create some changes that he did not intend upon.
- 24. Negative Aspects Governments propaganda; fascism; promoting political ideologies. When you watch a film, it’s not like watching a painting. There is no room for your imagination. Film creates meanings for you, it can promote some political ideologies and you will probably accept them.
- 25. Photography and Its Exhibition Value When you see a photo in modern time, you don’t base its value on cult rituals. You base its value on its exhibition. It doesn’t matter if you are seeing the original print of the photo or its reproduction.
- 27. Photography and Its Exhibition Value You base this photo’s value on its exhibition. Millions of people around the world saw this photo and there was an anti-war wave among them. They blamed war and its horrible consequences.
- 28. Cult and Exhibition Values The shift from cult value to exhibition value changed the purpose and function of art in society. This shift had several positive aspects like giving public the access to art and sending political messages to people. However, at the same time it had several negative consequences that we discussed before.