Who said the blogs were too easy?! ... Walter Benjamin Questions...

OK so here goes..........Walter Benjamin, JEEZ!!!!


How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?

Benjamin’s main theory (as far as I can gather) is that an artworks significance is all in the “aura”, that is the fact that the artist actually painted, sculpted, built the work in person there was a physicality and close relationship between the two which makes the work individual and special, the artwork in a sense contains these ‘memories’, all this history and context creates the works ‘aura’, and makes the viewing experience special.

“One might subsume the eliminated element in the term “aura” and go on to say: that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. This is a symptomatic process whose significance points beyond the realm of art. One might generalize by saying: 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. These two processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind. Both processes are intimately connected with the contemporary mass movements.”- Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Section 2

The act of mechanically reproducing an artwork distances the artist from the work, killing the ‘aura’ and uniqueness of that work.

Therefore, contemporary digital media would be devoid of an ‘aura’ and the merit of traditional art (painting, sculpture etc), according to Benjamin. Of course, the piece was written in 1936, so he probably didn’t really have much idea about contemporary digital media, so it’s not really fair to apply his thoughts to these new works. The may possess an entirely different ‘aura’ that is, the evidence of time consuming and skilful computer generated art, which contemporary audiences can appreciate on a different level to Benjamin’s preferred traditional art.


There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?

It means that there are way more artistic forms and styles, new medias and skills to be mastered in order to become a proficient artist. While “anyone with a computer” can create things it doesn’t mean they are all going to become respected artists, just as not every skilled painter makes it. So, it doesn’t really change ‘art’ in the sense of making it easier, it just makes it a more broad word encompassing more varied works. (Which is inevitable, anyhow, in a
Post Modern society where the convention is to challenge traditional conventions.)


Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?

Well, that all depends doesn’t it, on what images are used and how.
But my simple answer is yes, it is an authentic photoshopped work. I’m sure Walter Benjamin would not agree, but photoshopped images require work and technique like any other art form. However the uniqueness of these images is increasingly challenged as thousands of digital artists are constrained by the same software, the same tools, colour pallets and techniques generally speaking, can have ‘that Photoshop look’. We all know that magazine pics are photoshopped to perfection and people who work with the software can deconstruct elaborate designs with their own knowledge of the techniques. So, the images lose their ‘wow’ factor, they are no longer separated from the audience by the super- duper skill and technique they embody, in a sense this detracts from their authenticity as artworks.


Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?

No. Because they can be mass produced and reprinted to within an inch of their lives. Therefore losing their connection with the artist, their uniqueness, and their ‘aura’.

Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." click here!!