The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction

Lawson, Shefchuk, & Wzorek

Art Reproduction

Important for many reasons, but principally to:● spread art to places/people that it couldn't

have reached in its single, original form● meet wants and demands of the masses'

desire for as much art as possible

Early Types of Mechanical Reproduction

● Stamping (iron molds): Ancient Greeks used this mainly for coins○ http://www.classicalcoins.com/page103.html

● Woodcut: image created through carving, engraving, or etching on wood for printing○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgCYovlFRNY

Later Types of Mechanical Reproduction

● Lithography: direct process of tracing a design on a stone to print○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc

● Photography: finally freed hand of previous tasks in earlier reproduction types ○ Foreshadowed film

Authenticity

● = Essence of all that a piece of art has transmitted since its creation

● = Totally unique existence and history only an original piece can have

● Cannot be reproduced and is what art reproductions lack○ http://mba.yale.

edu/faculty/pdf/newmang_art_authenticity.pdf

Aura

● = "Unique phenomenon of distance" ● = Uniqueness and permanence an original

has ● Goes hand in hand with a piece's

authenticity, for they both reside only in originals ○ And both are lost in art reproduction

● Undeniably linked to tradition and art's ritual function

Ritual/Tradition

● Art's first purpose was for rituals/traditions, usually of the religious type ○ "Cult/Ritual Value"

● In this view, the existence of the ritualistic art matters more than its exhibition to people

● Cult value eventually lost steam when "exhibition value" grew

Exhibition Value

● Reproduction detaches art from domain of tradition/ritual

● Cult values shifted to exhibitionist ones as more people demanded to see art

● As authenticity, aura, and rituals became less important, these conflicting values reversed in prominence

● Value shift in art also led to a change in its intrinsic nature and how it was viewed by people○ http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/atheologies/1491/modern_media_and_the_%E2%80%

9Cexhibition_value%E2%80%9D_of_the_corpse

Relation to Chapter Two

● Presence of exhibition value is implied when referring to fully engaging audience and their emotional connection to a film for non ritualistic reasons○ Plays huge role in experience of form

● Perceived meanings, interpretations, and evaluations of art also play a pivotal role in experience of art that resides in the exhibition value

Photography & Film

● Through these mediums more than others, the exhibition value displaced cult value

● Films' societal immersion and significance ensures its effect

● Ch. 2: touches upon societal influence and interconnectedness among art and film in its explanations of convention and experience ○ All art is a product of culture, whether ritualistic or

exhibitionist

Film's Inclusion in "the Arts"

Film is introduced through a comparison between the invention of photography and the invention of film.

Can either be considered art?

By taking out the "cult" aspect through mechanical reproduction, Benjamin says we are left with both film and photography having political functions.

Film's Indescribable Nature

Many tried to attach characteristics of art to film: Compared to Hieroglyphics by Abel Gane

Described by S*Verin-Mars as an "incomporable means of expression".

Described by Iverfel as being "supernatural".

The Disappearance of Film's "Aura"

The Actor and his performance go through two filters before reaching the audience:

-The Camera-The Editing Processhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJcQgQHR78Q 6:30

The actor's performance is not directly received by the audience so the audience does not perceive the actor or character's "aura."

Film's Connection to the Audience

Film's lack of "aura" leads to the business of building up an actor's personality in the real world.

The actor becomes a commodity.

http://www.imdb.com/list/50XfQs9uH8U/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_star

Film's Connection to the Audience

Anyone that watches film can become an actor.Political connection:Acting becomes "common property" that can be attainable by all. http://www.listal.com/list/from-singer-to-actorhttp://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/from-cliff-richard-to-meat-loaf-the-best-1299541

Film's Connection to the Audience

By experiencing film, members of the audience become experts.

Filmmakers are constantly trying to "trick" the "expert" audience through the use of special effects

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/31799

Analogy

Magician=PainterSurgeon=Cameraman● magician maintains a natural distance

between patient and self ○ a painter maintains in his work a distance from

reality● surgeon diminishes the distance between

himself and patient as he handles the organs ○ a cameraman penetrates deeply into the web of

reality

Cameraman

● a cameraman penetrates deeply into the web of reality○ work of a cameraman consists of multiple fragments

assembled under a new law○ the camera intervenes with the resources of lifting

and lowering, interruptions. . .○ with close-up, space expands; with slow motion,

movement is extended

Dadaism

"Dada is a state of mind... Dada is artistic free thinking... Dada gives itself to nothing... ." So is Dada defined by

André Breton. This is not to say that Dada is definable, for it was one of the primary goals of Dada to avoid the labeling

and legitimizing of the establishment." www-scf.usc.edu

● "They intended and achieved the relentless destruction of the aura of their creations which they branded as reproduction with the very means of production."

DADA ART

"The Fountain"

● Assured distraction by making works of art a center of scandal

● Dadaistic rule: outrage to the public

Dada Art

Shock and Distraction

● Dada art work is unique because of shock value○ disruption or distraction from the "usual"

● Dada art "hit the spectator like a bullet, it happened to him, thus acquiring tactile quality"

● This promoted demand for film which is distraction○ "based on the changes of place and focus which

periodically assail the spectator"

Film vs. Painting

● A painting invites a spectator to contemplation, to abandon himself to his associations

● In a film, as soon as your eye grasps a scene, it changes○ the process of association in view of images is

interrupted by constant change■ shock effect of a film

"I can no longer think what I want to think. My thoughts have been replaced by moving images." ~Duhamel

The Masses

● Critique is that the masses seek distraction whereas art demands concentration from the spectator○ concentrated spectator IS absorbed by work of art○ distracted masses ABSORBS a work of art

● Despite being distracted, one can still form habits while in the state of distraction

Habit of Expectation

● After reviewing the article and reflecting on chapter two, it can be inferred that one of the habits formed in the state of distraction is expectation○ as a viewer absorbs the changing images

(music/sound etc...), he/she develops expectations○ the film either meets, delays, or shatters

expectations○ the viewer then adjusts his/her expectations