Work of art in the the age of mechanical reproduction

Walter Benjamin
Born July 15, 1892- September 26, 1940

• literary critic
• essayist 
• philosopher
• social critic
• translator
• radio broadcaster 

The original need for replication was for pupils learning under a master trying to learn a skill or replicate their work.  The new method of mechanical reproduction is something very different.

The mass production of replication was the creation of coins, terra-cotta, and bronze.  Etching was added to wood cuts and then followed lithographs. Lithographs was transcendent from the art world to the everyday world by invading the wold of graphic arts.  This allowed large quantities of products and it was also able to be changed quickly.  The art of printing was soon passed by the use of photography. The camera allowed for an image that maybe a hand could not capture.

"even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element; its presence in time and space, its unique existance at the place where it happens to be."

Most art, its story and its existence includes the changes that it could have encountered on its travels to exhibitions, the owners it was passed to and the physical changes that could have occurred to it over time.

The more an image is reproduced the less its presence is valued.

Showing the perception of time is something that was never done, in doing this you can also see a type of social change. Aura is the special quality that comes from a person, place , or thing.  The desire of contemporary masses to bring things "closer" spatially and humanly.

Photography started as a way of documenting the loved ones and the ones who had passed on, but as we step away from just documentary it starts to show the ritual value. Atget and all of his photographs of the streets of Paris.  Now the need for a caption is necessary to lead the viewer.

Film and performance art are two very different entities, the element of film is to make you see as the camera does, and the film can be manipulated to make the viewer appreciate the acting more because we as an audience do not need to interpret actions.  While a stage actor needs to be aware of how the crowd is viewing him or her as they walk across stage and act.  These people have a presence that is forgotten by the audience and the camera angles in movies are used to create this same effect.

Some actors in Russian films are not actors at all, but are regular people who perform the job on a daily bases and will be filmed to show greater accuracy in a situation.  This is very much unlike the western movie making.

Massive reproduction of art changes how the masses react to art.  The progressive reaction is characterized by the intimate visual and emotional enjoyment. Film is easier to have this reaction to next to a painting or drawing because it is relatable in the situation of things.  These we can take from our everyday life and apply them to what we see.

Dadaism wanted to create something by pictorial and literary means. They applied less importance to the sales value of their work than to its usefulness for contemplative immersion.  They made the works of art the center of scandal, their use to outrage the public.

War has set goals for mass movement on the largest scale. war is ugly but it can somehow strangely be beautiful.  The manifesto dictates the ugliness of war but it somehow brings to light the strange beauty that it contains. Fascism in rendering aesthetic while communism responds by politicizing art.