The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical

Reproduction (1935)Walter Benjamin

ARIN6903César Albarrán Torres

• Works of art have always been reproducible (replicas for training, diffusing work and monetary gain), but mechanical reproduction is new.

• Lithography: new stage as it enabled graphic art to illustrate everyday life.

• Reproduction acquires place of its own in artistic process. Warhol, Posadas and others understood this.

The many faces of Monalisa

What a reproduction lacks…

• Presence in time and space (how do we define these in the 21st century)?

• History of ownership and physical condition. • Authenticity: “The whole sphere of

authenticity is outside technical– and of course, not only technical.” (Benjamin, 1935: 214)

• The quality of the presence and the historical testimony of a work of art is depreciated.

Where does digital reproduction fit?• “Process reproduction is more independent

of the original than manual reproduction.” (Ibidem)

• “[…] technical reproduction can put the copy of the original into situations which would be out of reach for the original itself.” (Ibidem)

Did Michelangelo intend this?

Aura

• “[…] that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.” (Benjamin, 1935: 215)

• Aura: “uniqueness of a work of art”, “inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition”.

• A work of art is never separated from its “ritual function”.

Aura: a psychotic example

Resonance in the digital age

• “It is easier to exhibit a portrait bust that can be sent here and there than to exhibit a statue of a divinity that has its fixed place in the interior of a temple.” (219)

• “In photography, exhibition value begins to displace cult value all along the line.”(Ibidem)

• Film actor: “His creation is by no means all of a piece, it is composed of many different performances.” (Ibidem)

Resonance in the digital age

• “Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character […] the reader gains access to authorship.” (Benjamin, 1935)

• Produsage (2008): “Users who participate in […] processes of massively parallelized and decentralized creativity and innovation in myriads of enthusiast communities do no longer produce content, ideas, and knowledge in a way that resembles traditional, industrial modes of production” (Bruns, 2008) For extended, updated information visit: www.produsage.org

Massive simultaneous reception• “Simultaneous collective experience”

Benjamin identified in film, multiplied by X factor in the Internet.

• www.fat-pie.com Flash animations by David Firth, reproduction part of aura.

Original?• What is the original work of art in

digital creations? Does the aura still exist?