Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Essay - 3126 Words

Visit any major museum of art, at any given time, and one could find an abundance of monumental names listed on tiny plaques hanging next to even more recognizable works of art. The excitement felt by any art enthusiast when walking into these buildings of time and creation, is undeniable and especially unique. Could it be the atmosphere of the building, the presence of artwork, the people, possibly the grandeur of the space, or perhaps, could it be the spirit of the artists themselves, peering through the work they created? As onlookers peer into the artworks in front of them, there is no question as to whether or not they considered what the artwork means, where it came from and what the artist was interested in who created it. The†¦show more content†¦Benjamin’s death in 1940 at the age of 48, is rumored to be a suicide when the Naza’s took office, but is still a mystery. His ideas and concepts however, would live on for decades to come. Much of what he wrote about when discussing art came essentially after the development of photography and film. In his work, â€Å"Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,† Benjamin addresses his perception of the changes in art and the aesthetic experience congruent with societal changes. He writes with concern of how the great artworks are viewed after the introduction of photography and film. His idea of mechanical reproduction changed the art world as society knew it, particularly in how the public views artwork and the value of that work as more and more people are able to own, view and discuss it. This paper will specifically look at aspects of Benjamin’s groundbreaking essay and how educators can relate his ideas to the practices in their art classrooms. Much of what Benjamin discusses in his essay has to do with what he describes as the â€Å"aura† or spirit of an artwork. He discusses this spirit and how it is obtained, lost, given and received. He suggests that the aura of an artwork we know and understand today is much different from how it was understood in the time and place of its production. The aura Benjamin speaks of is obtained because of the artwork’s uniqueness and authenticity, which in turn is lost due the act of mass production. In describing thisShow MoreRelatedThe Work Of Art And The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction1320 Words   |  6 Pagesessay, â€Å"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction† by briefly distinguishing his categories from t raditional aesthetic values, those of â€Å"creativity and genius, eternal value and mystery† (Benjamin, 218). In contrast, he relates these tendencies to bourgeois and fascist ideologies and to the conditions, inevitably generated out of capitalism itself, which provoke â€Å"revolutionary demands in the politics of art† (217-8) Benjamin claims that in times past the role of art has been to provideRead MoreThe Work Of Art And The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction911 Words   |  4 PagesIn the piece â€Å"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,† Benjamin tackles the evolution of reproduction coinciding with the introduction advanced technologies; and how art, specifically film, has transformed since this introduction. He asserts that reproduction has now become part of the process in art because of mediums like film and photography, however their reliance on technology creates less authenticity among art forms due to less of the original art still be connected to the pieceRead MoreThe Work Of Art And The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction1180 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment in media that â€Å"will change our lives†. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, are all forms of mass media, but one could dispute that they are unnecessary to the development of society. Walter Benjamin argues in, â€Å"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,† that with reproducibility of images, submission towards the film increases thus a lack in the formation of one’s own opinions. Today, if asked, not many would protest the invention and rise of film, but according to Walter BenjaminRead MoreThe Work Of Art During The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction1057 Words   |  5 PagesIn The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (1936), Walter Benjamin examines the mechanically reproduced art in relation to the practice of politics and shows a positive attitude toward the mechanical reproduction in modern age. In The Cult ure Industry (1944), Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer who belong to the Frankfurt School same like Benjamin (although some scholars distinguish Walter Benjamin from the Frankfurt School) criticize the contemporary popular culture as a ramificationRead MoreWalter Benjamin The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction1450 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’: how has the reproduction of images changed the development of art? Identify three works of your choice to support your argument. This essay will start from Walter Benjamin’s consideration about the impact of mechanical reproduction of art as revolutionizing its social function and will describe the noticeable validity of his theory in the contemporary world. By introducing three artworks that belong to different historical periods, namelyRead MoreThe Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin1263 Words   |  5 Pages While reading the article, â€Å"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction† by Walter Benjamin, it is clear to grasp the idea being portrayed. The author is determined to prove to his readers how the advancement of humanity has led to drastic changes in how we create and perceive artwork. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however, represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. One of the questionsRead MoreReaction Essay on Movie â€Å"Shadow Magic† and Article â€Å"the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction† by Walter Benjamin.965 Words   |  4 PagesAfter reading the article on The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin, it gives a lot of things to think about art these days and how it should be, whether the thinking of Walter Benjamin is relevant to our age of society these days is a different part of the story but how he interprets art in the article is a totally different thing, so let us view a bit about his article. â€Å"Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very differentRead MoreDada vs. Walter Benjamin: What Value Does Dada Have in Context of Walter Benjamins the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction?3101 Words   |  13 Pages------------------------------------------------- Unit 7. ------------------------------------------------- Dada Vs. Walter Benjamin: What value does Dada have in context of Walter Benjamins The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction? ------------------------------------------------- Martin Hannon ------------------------------------------------- Martin Newth ------------------------------------------------- B.A. Photography, Year 2. ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------Read MoreRelationship between Mechanical Reproduction, Art and Culture754 Words   |  4 Pagesbe reflected in different forms of art because the marxist school believes that everything in a society is based on the current modes of production. A change to the mode of production will bring change to politics, law, philosophy, religion, and art. Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno and Walter Benjamin are three of the most notable critics of Marxism. They write about the production of cultural subject in capitalist societies, agreeing that reproduction of art has drastically changed due to mechanization