Debord
In “The Society of the Spectacle,” Guy Debord developed the concept of “Spectacle” and the negative sides of a “Society of Spectacle” which continues to coexist with arts and humanity. Debord introduces spectacle as equivalent to mass media at its peak of “superficial manifestation.” He is saying that because of mass media, people are controlled and put behind bars when it comes to authenticity and quality of life. Their way of living gets unnecessarily public and aims to impress society instead of living the moment. Debord ultimately aims to bring awareness to the world’s “spectors” and that they should wake up and disrupt the existence of the spectacle using spectacular forms of art and linguistics.
Benjamin
Walter Benjamin in his literary piece, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” talks about art’s authenticity before and after reproduction. He states that “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” He is supporting the idea that as time progresses, treatments and developments of and on art should proportionally evolve. This idea also relates to another point that he brought up about societal changes that happen through time. He believes that differences in societies’ past and present ought to reflect differences in art as a big subject of reproduction.