“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” discusses how the mass reproduction of traditional artworks can diminish the authenticity and unique presence of the original piece. Even though there are many ways in which reproducing a piece of art through photographic or technical reproduction has its own benefits, the quality of the artwork is always depreciated.

I felt that Passage 5 was the most compelling because of the way Benjamin described how art is perceived by people. He explains that early art was created to show its “cult value,” where people might have used it for any mystical or religious rituals. It was made to be valued as something spiritually significant, rather than something to be seen by the masses. However, as time has evolved, the mass production of art has made it possible for these artworks to be reached by a much larger audience, which harms the artwork’s importance. The need for art to be exhibited shifts the 2 polar types of how art is valued so much that it ends up transforming the quality.

I disagree with what he expresses here because the exhibition value of the work does not take away from how the artwork is originally meant to be perceived. Photography and printing can be mass produced, but having it be accessible to more people doesn’t automatically mean that people will not appreciate the artwork for what it is. For example, no amount of mass produced figures of religious heads will stop people from appreciating the actual person and praying. There are millions of merchandises with Van Gogh’s Starry Night, or Monet’s Water Lily paintings on it, and the mass production of these items will not make people suddenly believe that it’s not up to their standards just because it’s not an original or have a cult value.

A tool that I would make for a currently unknown problem is a memory erasing machine that lets you block out/repress any memory of your choosing to prevent you from re-experiencing any embarrassing moments of your life.

McLuhan’s The Medium is the Massage explores the theme of media acting as an active force that reshapes the way people act and think, rather than a passive instrument that delivers content. The passage that intrigued me the most was “your family,” which I interpreted as the idea that in our present time, the media has a greater influence on you than your family does. I don’t agree with this sentiment because though media is very present in our society, I wouldn’t credit that to say it “far surpasses any possible influence mom and dad can now bring to bear.” There are thoughts and ideals that people were brought up with that can’t be replicated by mainstream media even if it does have a further reach and thus has a way of teaching us things that we may have never known otherwise.

When you are a kid, there is no way to learn right from wrong from the media because it’s not a real sentient being. You don’t learn what to say or what not to say, nor can it teach you what moral values and beliefs you should have. Instead, your parents will always be there to guide you as a young child. 

On the other hand, I do agree with the last sentence of the passage where he states that “all the world’s a sage,” because it supports the notion people can be shaped by a multitude of factors beyond just your parents. What your parents teach you will always find a way to follow you, but the media does have a way to help you unlearn what you were taught, change how you act, or even how you think when you’re old enough to comprehend worlds that are beyond your own.

For example, when I was younger, my parents taught me to think a certain way because that was how they were brought up to think as well. Through media, I was able to form my own opinions on the same topic by viewing it from another lens, and ended up unlearning what I was taught. However, I would not have been able to see both sides of the issue if I were not exposed to differing opinions and ideals. Therefore, while the media does have a way to redefine family dynamics, it isn’t comparable and doesn’t negate the teachings of your family.

I really enjoyed watching Steamboat Willie, not only because it’s an iconic video, but also due to how innovative it was for its time. Adding synched sounds and sound effects to an animated film wasn’t something that people back then had ever witnessed, which is really impressive. Watching this video made me think about how much work Walt Disney must’ve put into the film in order to craft something so ahead of its time. Additionally, another video I liked watching was Tagliaferro’s BEAUTY because of the different classical paintings used to create the animation. I had never heard of 2.5D before this lesson, but I found it very cool that artists are using perspective and layering to give regular two dimensional figures the illusion of depth and movement. It evokes a lot of emotion in me as I feel that this was a great edit to show the evolution of human life through paintings that express growth as well as pain.

On the other hand, I thought that Pierre Hebert’s Op Hop was very unnerving. Although the visuals itself are interesting to look at individually, the speed of the animation and the sound effects in the background add an eerie vibe to the video that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Another animation I wasn’t really partial to was Hertzfeldt’s Rejected. I can understand how it’s creative and entertaining in its own way, but I feel that the animation is just a bunch of meaningless clips thrown together without a message or theme other than to be “random” or “different,” so it’s not something I would go out of my way to watch.

The sentiment that noise is something that accompanies every manifestation of our life and is never totally revealed to us very accurately describes what noise truly is. Noise is constantly being created by us, and we don’t even fully process it unless we’re actively trying to hear it. Living in NYC especially, has made me realize that there is so much more going on in my surroundings that I’ve never paid any attention to because it’s just “unnecessary noise” that I tune out. Once you really focus on listening to what’s going on outside, you’ll be able to hear more people talking, car engines revving, or sirens blaring. Noise is a sign of people living their lives and us being able to move forward.

I chose this audio by Wang Li and really enjoyed how the different sounds were put together to create this music. There seems to be a lot of traditional percussion and string instruments being used, which I felt really captivated the feeling of many historical Chinese dramas. I have thought about sound as art before because songs are essentially just a mix of sounds put together to create something that is pleasant to listen to. Song-making and songs in general should be considered a form of art.

There’s a noise that thonks in a rhythmic cadence through the quietness of my room. Another that produces exhales in the form of small nonstop hisses. The faint swooshes of the cold breeze is blocked out by sounds of clanks against hollow metal.