Response to The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

I am writing today about the article The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by
Walter Benjamin. In this article Benjamin talks about the reproducibility of art. Replicas have
always been made, however the speed and accuracy in which they can be made has increased. Also the amount of skill needed to make a replica has been reduced. At first replicas were made only by
students and people seeking to make money by selling reproductions. The amount of reproductions
and ease of making them increased first by woodcuts and engraving, then by lithography. Now works
of art can be photographed and exact copies of the photo are indistinguishable from the original.
Any number of copies of a photo can be printed. Digital technology also allows copying of works. A
photograph or digital work can be copied and saved to another computer and not be distinguishable
from the original.
Benjamin talks about original works of art existing in a particular time and place and showing
changes in condition due to passage of time. He stated that the quality of a mechanical
reproduction does not affect the original work. Reproductions of art works tend to have
differences from the original. For example, a photo of an artwork in a textbook may not have the
same color as the original work. It is dependent on the amount and quality of the ink used in its
printing. Also, the size of an original work is not reproduced in print. It can be printed larger
or smaller to fit the format of the book. The texture of the original work isn't maintained
either. Copies of works of art loose the effect that seeing the original work has. Also, the
original work loses some of its effect due to people having seen a copy of it.
According to the article the way people perceive art works is dependent upon one's time in
history. An example of this would be that in some historical times a person who was depicted as
larger meant that he was more important. Today it is more likely to be seen as him being closer.
This article also discusses people wanting to see an art work up close by seeing a reproduction of
it. This is a reason for reproductions and photos of original works, because it can be difficult
to get to the place where the original is. Reproductions allow people to have knowledge of
original works that they have not seen for themselves, however it is always worthwhile to go
somewhere to see the original art if you can.
The article goes on to talk about art originally being created for ritual and religious reasons.
Later it was created for beauty and art for art's sake. Art has now also been extended to art
created for a concept rather than to represent something or for beauty. Some art is even ugly when
looked at from the standpoint of aesthetics rather than the concept behind why it was made.
He mentions that asking for an "authentic" print of a photograph doesn't make sense. Today stating
that you want the original work of art for a work that is digital makes no sense because the copy
is the same as the original. The only way that such a statement makes sense with reference to
digital works is if you are asking for an original copy of a work that the current work was
derived from.
As far as his statement about photographs and artworks in general having a hidden political
meaning goes, artworks throughout time have also been used to support political agendas. Works
such as the statue of Augustus Caesar in Roman times were made to increase his status politically.
And artworks depicting the outcome of a war always have often favored a specific political
viewpoint. Even the statues of the Egyptian Pharaohs were political.
A lot of the article after this talks about film. He states that it "copied the exterior world".
Now, it has advanced to the point that it can express the "fairylike, marvelous, and supernatural"
mainly due to advances in technology. He also discusses the fact that movies are a distraction
whereas earlier artworks require contemplation because with a movie before you have time to think
it has gone on to the next scene.
He also states later that "the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic
character. With the internet, anyone can be a writer and publish their thoughts or creations for
anyone else to read and see.
Although technology has changed some things about art, the older methods are still around to be
used. New methods and ideas have evolved and will continue to do so.