Month: February 2018

As the most difficult reading assigned in this class this semester, I chose a more specifc subject that Benjamin wrote about that I seemed to understand. In the 20th century, the author explains the difference that process reproduction and mechanical reproduction had in the visual world. Process reproduction, for example, was able to capture things that were not clear to the eye but only clear to the lens of a camera. What was missing was something that mechanical reproduction, or something man-made, was not able to reproduce. Although the author writes a lot about process reproduction, he goes in to say how big of an impact mechanical reproduction has had even in our modernized age. Where mass consumption was the leading factor in changing the way we perceive visual art, mechanical reproduction led to the loss of “aura”, as Benjamin explains. I find it interesting that during the time that the author’s work was published, it became so relatable in today’s world. The aura that he speaks of refers to the originality or “loss of authority” in the works of today’s artists. Because we are fed so much visual inspiration it had led us to become decepted in the way we perceive new works of art. In my opinion, if an individual takes a look at a piece of work made by a person living in today’s time, that individual will be able to pinpoint (hypotheticaly speaking) the thousands of different ways that the artist gathered this visual aid from. Adding on, the author’s comment of ritual and originality in the way of challenging mechanical reproduction was interesting. He comments on the fact that ritual, or where the story was made in regards to the work of art, is what truly holds its originality no matter how well it was reproduced. This helps us understand that no matter if the aura is lost due to the loss of originality, we find a different world where we give a different type of perception or meaning when we take a photograph. I think the essay is really important in today’s world due to the fact that we seem to lack originality because of all of the inspiration that we are surrounded by.

 

The last paragraph on page 63 left me wondering how accurate the author’s description of today’s world was. The feeling of setting your energy into one place and closely acquiring information is long gone. Personally, I blame not only myself for recognizing information mostly through pattern recognition, but also the frightening internet culture that has immersed us into thinking that information comes in such a spacial manner. No longer can people dwell on the information that had been given to them before they are handed another piece of information, still not getting to the bottom of the former.

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