When Gutenberg brought the printing press to the west in
fifteenth century, mass production became possible, which sponsored the spread
of knowledge and ideas. In all past
history classes, I was taught that the advent of the printing press was the
most positively influential discovery because it brought in the age of
enlightenment. Only after studying this
unit, I have realized that this discovery was not progressive for all areas of
culture. The mechanical reproduction of
artwork caused what Walter Benjamin calls the problem of lost “aura”. When artwork is replicated, the authenticity
and uniqueness of the art vanishes, creating a less important original piece.
Instead of looking at the reproduction of artwork as
diminishing the impact of the original piece, now more people have the opportunity
to appreciate the artwork simply because a larger population is capable of
seeing it. Although Douglas Davis agrees with Walter Benjamin that “the
dead replica and the living, authentic original are merg[ed],” he asserts that
ultimately there is a “persistence of the aura” because people will always seek
to find the original. Overall, despite
the loss of some aura with the introduction of technology proficient at
replicating and disseminating artwork, the benefits of that technology outweigh
the consequences.
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work
of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18
April 2015.
<http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.
Davis,
Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving
Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-86. JStor.
Third Annual New York Digital Salon. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Ernst, Kurt. Henry Ford’s Moving Automotive Assembly Line
Turns 100. Digital image. Http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/10/07/henry-fords-moving-automotive-assembly-line-turns-100/.
7 Oct. 2013. Web.
Ro, Neale. The Importance of the Aura in Digital
Humanities (AFF601). Digital image. Http://dhblog.maynoothuniversity.ie/nrooney/?p=132.
23 Oct. 2014. Web.
Subitolove. Digital image. Https://subitolove.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/just-another-oscar-winning-movie-movie-review-on-the-imitation-game/.
22 Feb. 2015. Web.
The Imitation Game. Dir.
Morten Tyldum. Perf. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightly. StudioCanal,
2014. Film.
Vensa, Victoria. Robotics
+ Art Lecture. UCOnline. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk>,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkP7oSZVkbg>.
Melinda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your take on mechanical reproduction and your opinion of Walter Benjamin’s concern of the lost “aura” through the reproduction of art. I totally agree that with the mass reproduction of art that is now possible, many individuals are able to appreciate and have pieces of art in their homes. Likewise, I see how you can say that the good of mass reproduction outweighs the bad. However, I also would like to comment on how in a way, I can almost see that the negative outcomes as well of mass art reproduction outweighing the bad (for discussions sake!). Since some pieces are reproduced tons of times, like Starry Night for example, part of me feels as though we are narrowing our reserve of art in that we aren’t creating as many unique and different pieces. Maybe we are putting too much effort towards replicating the same pieces of art as opposed to creating tons of new/ different forms of art that can be accessible to all and not just the wealthy. I see the argument both ways, in terms of Douglas Davis and Walter Benjamin—so its just a little food for thought!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with your idea about the printing press. Although it was extremely influential and helpful in spreading the ideas of the author to mass audiences, from an artist’s perspective it hindered the value of the original ideas. On a more optimistic note, if an idea is spread to the masses, then that idea can stem newer ideas and stimulate new knowledge by a joint effort.
Reproduction, overall, I think isn’t a bad thing but not enough credit is being given to the original in this modern age now. As you said, computers give us access to anything we need, often duplicates of whatever is the original piece we are searching for. I love your quote, “Now more people have the opportunity to appreciate the artwork simply because a larger population is capable of seeing it.” And that is so true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but if the beauty cannot be experienced because there isn’t distribution of the copies to the public, then we are robbing society of a chance to learn and experience something new.