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The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 11x17

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1935 essay by Walter Benjamin

In "The Work of Art in the Historic period of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935), Walter Benjamin addresses the artistic and cultural, social, economic, and political functions of art in a capitalist lodge.

"The Work of Fine art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935), by Walter Benjamin, is an essay of cultural criticism which proposes and explains that mechanical reproduction devalues the aura (uniqueness) of an objet d'art.[1] That in the age of mechanical reproduction and the absence of traditional and ritualistic value, the production of art would be inherently based upon the praxis of politics. Written during the Nazi régime (1933–1945) in Germany, Benjamin's essay presents a theory of fine art that is "useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art" in a mass-culture society.[two]

The field of study and themes of Benjamin's essay: the aura of a work of art; the creative authenticity of the artefact; its cultural authority; and the aestheticization of politics for the product of art, became resource for research in the fields of art history and architectural theory, cultural studies and media theory.[3]

The original essay, "The Work of Fine art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility", was published in three editions: (i) the German edition, Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit, in 1935; (2) the French edition, L'œuvre d'fine art à l'époque de sa reproduction mécanisée, in 1936; and (iii) the High german revised edition in 1939, from which derive the gimmicky English language translations of the essay titled "The Work of Art in the Historic period of Mechanical Reproduction".[4]

Summary [edit]

In "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) Walter Benjamin presents the thematic basis for a theory of art past quoting the essay "The Conquest of Ubiquity" (1928), past Paul Valéry, to establish how works of art created and developed in by eras are different from contemporary works of fine art; that the understanding and treatment of art and of creative technique must progressively develop in order to sympathize a work of fine art in the context of the modern time.

Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very unlike from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparing with ours. But the astonishing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a concrete component which tin no longer be considered or treated every bit it used to exist, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern noesis and power. For the last xx years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from fourth dimension immemorial. We must expect nifty innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps fifty-fifty bringing nigh an amazing change in our very notion of art.[5]

Artistic product [edit]

In the Preface, Benjamin presents Marxist analyses of the organization of a capitalist society and establishes the place of the arts in the public sphere and in the private sphere. He then explains the socio-economic conditions to extrapolate developments that further the economic exploitation of the proletariat, whence arise the social conditions that would abolish capitalism. Benjamin explains that the reproduction of art is non an exclusively modernistic human activeness, citing examples such as artists manually copying the work of a main artist. Benjamin reviews the historical and technological developments of the ways for the mechanical reproduction of fine art, and their effects upon society's valuation of a work of art. These developments include the industrial arts of the foundry and the stamp manufacturing plant in Ancient Greece; and the modern arts of woodcut relief-press, engraving, etching, lithography, and photography, all of which are techniques of mass production that let greater accuracy in reproducing a piece of work of art.[6]

Authenticity [edit]

The aureola of a work of art derives from authenticity (uniqueness) and locale (physical and cultural); Benjamin explains that "even the almost perfect reproduction of a work of art is defective in ane element: Its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the identify where it happens to exist" located. He writes that the "sphere of [artistic] actuality is outside the technical [sphere]" of mechanised reproduction.[vii] Therefore, the original piece of work of art is an objet d'art independent of the mechanically accurate reproduction; nonetheless, by changing the cultural context of where the artwork is located, the existence of the mechanical copy diminishes the aesthetic value of the original piece of work of art. In that way, the aura—the unique aesthetic authorization of a work of art—is absent from the mechanically produced re-create.[8]

Value: cult and exhibition [edit]

Regarding the social functions of an artefact, Benjamin said that "Works of art are received and valued on different planes. Two polar types stand out; with ane, the accent is on the cult value; with the other, on the exhibition value of the work. Artistic product begins with ceremonial objects destined to serve in a cult. One may assume that what mattered was their beingness, not their being on view."[9] The cult value of religious fine art is that "certain statues of gods are accessible only to the priest in the cella; certain madonnas remain covered nearly all twelvemonth round; sure sculptures on medieval cathedrals are invisible to the spectator on ground level."[x] In practise, the diminished cult value of a religious artefact (an icon no longer venerated) increases the artefact's exhibition value every bit art created for the spectators' appreciation, because "it is easier to exhibit a portrait bust, that tin can exist sent hither and in that location [to museums], than to exhibit the statue of a divinity that has its fixed place in the interior of a temple."[eleven]

The mechanical reproduction of a work of fine art voids its cult value, considering removal from a fixed, private space (a temple) and placement in mobile, public infinite (a museum) allows exhibiting the art to many spectators.[12] Farther explaining the transition from cult value to exhibition value, Benjamin said that in "the photographic image, exhibition value, for the first time, shows its superiority to cult value."[13] In emphasising exhibition value, "the work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions," which "after may be recognized equally incidental" to the original purpose for which the artist created the Objet d'art.[14]

As a medium of artistic production, the movie theater (moving pictures) does not create cult value for the motion flick, itself, considering "the audience'southward identification with the player is actually an identification with the photographic camera. Consequently, the audience takes the position of the photographic camera; its arroyo is that of testing. This is not the arroyo to which cult values may exist exposed." Therefore, "the film makes the cult value recede into the groundwork, not only past putting the public in the position of the critic, but also past the fact that, at the movies, this [critical] position requires no attending."[15]

Fine art as politics [edit]

The social value of a work of fine art changes equally a social club change their value systems; thus the changes in artistic styles and in the cultural tastes of the public follow "the manner in which human sense-perception is organized [and] the [artistic] medium in which it is achieved, [which are] adamant not just by Nature, just by historical circumstances, as well."[7] Despite the socio-cultural furnishings of mass-produced, reproduction-fine art upon the aura of the original work of art, Benjamin said that "the uniqueness of a piece of work of art is inseparable from its existence embedded in the fabric of tradition," which separates the original piece of work of fine art from the reproduction.[7] That the ritualization of the mechanical reproduction of art also emancipated "the piece of work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual,"[7] thereby increasing the social value of exhibiting works of art, which practice progressed from the individual sphere of life, the owner'south enjoyment of the aesthetics of the artefacts (commonly High Art), to the public sphere of life, wherein the public relish the aforementioned aesthetics in an art gallery.

Influence [edit]

In the belatedly-twentieth-century television programme Ways of Seeing (1972), John Berger proceeded from and developed the themes of "The Piece of work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935), to explain the contemporary representations of social class and racial caste inherent to the politics and production of art. That in transforming a work of art into a commodity, the modern means of creative production and of artistic reproduction have destroyed the aesthetic, cultural, and political potency of art: "For the outset fourth dimension ever, images of art accept become ephemeral, ubiquitous, insubstantial, available, valueless, free," because they are commercial products that lack the aura of authenticity of the original objet d'art.[xvi]

See also [edit]

  • Aestheticization of politics
  • Fine art for art's sake

References [edit]

  1. ^ Elliott, Brian. Benjamin for Architects (2011) Routledge, London, p. 0000.
  2. ^ Scannell, Paddy. (2003) "Benjamin Contextualized: On 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'" in Canonic Texts in Media Enquiry: Are There Whatsoever? Should There Exist? How Most These?, Katz et al. (Eds.) Polity Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9780745629346. pp. 74–89.
  3. ^ Elliott, Brian. Benjamin for Architects, Routledge, London, 2011.
  4. ^ Notes on Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", a commentary by Gareth Griffiths, Aalto Academy, 2011. [ permanent dead link ]
  5. ^ Paul Valéry, La Conquête de 50'ubiquité (1928)
  6. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Historic period of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. 01.
  7. ^ a b c d Walter Benjamin (1968). Hannah Arendt (ed.). "The Piece of work of Art in the Historic period of Mechanical Reproduction," Illuminations . London: Fontana. pp. 214–18. ISBN9781407085500.
  8. ^ Hansen, Miriam Bratu (2008). "Benjamin's Aura," Disquisitional Inquiry No. 34 (Winter 2008)
  9. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. 4.
  10. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. 4.
  11. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Piece of work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. four.
  12. ^ "Cult vs. Exhibition, Department II". Samizdat Online. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2020-05-22 .
  13. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Historic period of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. 4.
  14. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Piece of work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. iv.
  15. ^ Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) p. 5–6.
  16. ^ Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books, London, 1972, pp. 32–34.

External links [edit]

  • Consummate text of the essay, translated
  • Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung (1932-1941) - Download the original text in French, "50'œuvre d'art à l'époque de sa reproduction méchanisée," in the Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung Jahrgang Five, Félix Alcan, Paris, 1936, pp. forty–68 (23MB)
  • Complete text in German (in High german)
  • Partial text of the essay, with commentary past Detlev Schöttker (in German)
  • A comment to the essay on "diségno"

dixonande1939.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_of_Art_in_the_Age_of_Mechanical_Reproduction

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