The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Essays

  • The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction By Walter Benjamin

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Walter Benjamin’s essay, “The Work of Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, he argues that in the result of art no longer being created for traditional and ritualistic value, that now, in the age of mechanical reproduction, art will be based on politics. Benjamin goes on to say that the art that was once created in the past served a different purpose and as the reader, it is important to understand the context then and understand the modern techniques of art. Throughout the essay, Benjamin

  • Benjamin's Lens

    1804 Words  | 4 Pages

    essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Walter Benjamin seemingly draws a parallel with Platonic thought in his discussion of artistic reproduction's destruction of aura. Benjamin argues that the mechanical reproducibility of an image, with regards specifically toward the development of a photograph or film, causes the unique authenticity of the original image to deteriorate. According to Benjamin, a mechanical reproduction of a work cannot claim to be the actual work because

  • Walter Benjamin

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    aura of works of art, and how reproducibility can affect the authenticity of the artwork. Throughout his essay, he discusses the production of art, and how each piece of art has a specific aura that separates it from any reproductions. Some arguments have been made that reproducibility can degrade the authenticity of a work of art, while others have argued that it spreads the influence a work of art. While both claims can be made, it is more valid that the reproducibility of a work of art degrades

  • Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

    3120 Words  | 7 Pages

    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

  • Relationship between Mechanical Reproduction, Art and Culture

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    be 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

  • Man With A Movie Camera Vertov

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Benjamin’s essay, Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and Vertov’s film, Man with a Movie Camera, both propose that through film we have more control over how we are able to tell a story. Prior to film, stories were only able to be told in four ways: spoken verbally, painted in works of art, written in books, or performed on stage as a play. Although artistic in their own way, they all lack a component of presentation that film possesses. Oral stories and books are each capable of telling

  • Reproduction Businesses of Thomas Kinkade?s painting

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reproduction Businesses of Thomas Kinkade’s painting When I read the article by Susan Orlean, I am very aware of the big business Thomas Kinkade is trying to create by reproducing his original paintings mechanically using digital technique, but I have also carefully examined whether this article which discusses about the reproduction of his art works has a correlation with Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”. A certain emotion or an “aura” is said to

  • Art and Reproduction: Joan of Arc Images

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Wallach Gallery exhibition of Anna Hyatt Huntington’s sculpture (1876-1973), the viewer gets to discover different versions of the emblematic figure that is Joan of Arc, from small bronze medals, to much bigger works of art. A digital replication of the initial statue that was unveiled at Riverside Drive and 93rd Street in December 1915 is also available the public in the gallery. The success of the Joan of Arc – or The Maid of Orleans’s depictions results from the symbol that she fosters

  • Clockwork Orange And The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Clockwork Orange and the Age of Mechanical Reproduction For Walter Benjamin, the defining characteristic of modernity was mass assembly and production of commodities, concomitant with this transformation of production is the destruction of tradition and the mode of experience which depends upon that tradition. While the destruction of tradition means the destruction of authenticity, of the originally, in that it also collapses the distance between art and the masses it makes possible the liberation

  • Analysis Of Lev Manovich's Software Takes Command

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    in both Benjamin’s “The Work of Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and Manovich’s “Software Takes Command.” Benjamin, writing in the 1930’s speaks optimistically about the possibilities and benefits of art in the machine age. He was living in a time where it was presumed that revolution was just around the corner and that while industrialization in the service of capitalism was alienating and exploitative, industrialization in a revolutionary society would free art from it’s ancient ritualistic

  • Benjamin And Baudrillard Analysis

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    influential essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction", he argues that mechanical reproduction produces a fundamental change in the nature of art, a change that destroys the artwork's "aura" by removing the context in which art had been related. He suggests that technology creates a new kind of political or revolutionary potential for mass art, whereas such

  • Revolutionary Work of Art

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walter Benjamin emphasizes in his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility” that technology used to make an artwork has changed the way it was received, and its “aura”. Aura represents the originality and authenticity of a work of art that has not been reproduced. The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is an example of a work that has been and truly a beacon of art. It has brought a benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting, and it has an exemplary aura that cannot

  • Postmodern Art in Andy Warhol´s Silvier Liz as Cleopatra

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the

  • Cinema Theory

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    frame had its origins in the schools of formalism and realism. Both schools main objective was to amplify the prestige of film. During that era of film was an upstart sideshow attraction, high class form of entertainment was the theater and the visual art forms of paintings and statues. Both schools saw cinema as a way of looking a through an aperture but keeping the audience at a distance from the subject on the screen. Whether looking through at frame or looking through a window the audience would

  • Post-Modern Analysis Of Hr Gigers "the birth machine"

    3287 Words  | 7 Pages

    Post Modern Art 2.     The Artist, Hans Rudi Giger and "The Birth Machine" 3.     "The Birth Machine" 4.     Picture: "The Birth Machine" 5.     The Philosophical Narrative a.     My chosen philosophical narrative (Postmodernism) b.     Analysis of the piece through postmodernism 6.     The Poem: "Der Atom Kinder" 7.     Critical Evaluation 8.     Conclusion 9.     Picture: "Bullet Baby" and "Iron Cast Copy" 10.     Bibliography Introduction: Premodern, Modern and Postmodern art forms Various

  • What Is Visual Culture And Modernization?

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    texts range through the topics of anthropology, art history, philosophy and sociology to explore these cultural motives behind a work of art and how, in turn, that art functions within greater society’s ideologies. I particularly want to illuminate the indispensable connection between visual culture and modernization by taking a more sociological approach to the study of visual culture. During the 19th century, the social sciences

  • The Current State of Virtual Art and Exhibition

    2630 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Current State of Virtual Art and Exhibition Virtual art is the product of long-standing traditions in art merged with revolutionary technological advances. With innovations emerging almost as fast as end-users can test and master new systems, technology has dramatically altered our daily lives and changed our thought processes. Like many technological advances, virtual and cyber realities have been embraced, and often created by, artists that experiment with the myriad of possibilities that

  • Joyce Wieland’s O Canada: An Intersection of Pop Culture, Art, and Identity

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    The twentieth century has witnessed many transformations in the ways we produce and respond to works of art. It has seen the rise of altogether new media, approaches, and a wealth of new interpretative frameworks. The emergence of manufactured goods, modernism, and a ubiquitous mass culture contribute to the upheaval, in the 1960’s and 70’s, of established art practices and approaches. Pop Art emerges as an important response to, extension of, or parody of what Clement Greenberg called “Ersatz culture”

  • Art in the Movie Basquiat

    2007 Words  | 5 Pages

    Art in the Movie Basquiat Walter Benjamin projected the future of art in the age of mechanical reproduction, providing the basis of aesthetic evaluation for photography, film, digital and reproducible art. In the film Basquiat, directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Jeffrey Wright, Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, and David Bowie as Andy Warhol, the art world is explored in the midst of defining itself in light of the changes brought about by the technology of the twentieth century. Benjamin

  • Music in the Information Age

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea that music is information tends to turn people's heads. The art of information stands as the largest growing field in both business and society. How does the age-old art of music fit into this category? Can music even be considered information? The rising popularity of mp3's proves that people value music as a source of information. Hundreds of groups are advertising their band on the web at mp3.com, from popular music groups to those struggling to make a name in society. The web sites serve