Walter Benjamin-Danielle Inducci

Walter Benjamin
“The work of art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction”

In this reading, many ideas of reproduction and representation are discussed. Benjamin says, “ Aura of the original unique work of art is lost to reproducibility, but that this far, from being something to mourn opens up progressive possibilities.” I believe that most art created now is a reproduction of something seen from past artists. Artists are used as research and reference tools and help current artists who are making work come up in infinite possibilities for their own pieces. However, Benjamin states that an exact replication of a work of art lacks the element of presence in time and space and uniqueness. Which means the replication is not an exact replication ever because of the time that it is being presented and the space it is being presented in will be different from the first appearance.
“The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition…” The earliest works of art originated with rituals of magic and religion. Ritual was art’s authentic original value. As years go on the rituals and traditions change over time. For example, photography became the first actual means of reproduction. Mechanical reproduction, which strays away from the tradition of manual reproduction, became a crisis along with the rise of socialism. In photography, a negative can produce countless prints, but for one to be called the original or authentic is not probable. A helpful analogy in the reading was comparing a cameraman and a painter with a surgeon and a magician. A magician heals the sick with very little contact with the patient, while the surgeon does the opposite and positions himself inside the patient by penetrating the body. The painter and the magician both maintain a natural distance, whereas the cameraman and surgeon break in. Reproduction in the art world is often attempted but never fully achieved.