Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?

Throughout "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" the notion of the 'Aura' of art and the idea that the meaning of art is reproducible, are heavily conveyed and presented by Benjamin to ancient forms of art. However these ideas can apply to contemporary digital media, as although the styles of art may have changed, art still has the ability to be conveyed through different meanings, and perceived differently through use of different discourses and contexts. Ultimately however these contemporary digital media's such as music and photo shop, still conveys a strong sense of 'Aura' that Benjamin was so strongly referring to. Thus the ideas Benjamin was conveying throughout "Art in the the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply fittingly to the new art that is formed through contemporary digital media.

There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?

Previously being an 'Artist' was perceived as a profession, which traditionally linked art to the association of all things religious, feudal, power structures, nature, and other native rituals. With art now being 'created' by anyone who has a computer, it has ultimately been freed from the conservative natures of telling a historical tale or painting religious paintings. Now that any person can create their own perception of a topic, art has become liberated to convey meanings of several cultures rather than one dominant culture. For example with music as a form of 'Art' we are thus enlightened with different forms and genres of music which all convey a different aspect of a culture.

Is a photo shopped image "authentic"?

A photo shopped image cannot be seen as "authentic" as according to Benjamin 'The whole sphere of authenticity is outside technical – and, of course, not only technical – reproducibility.' This thus means that the photo shopped image which is a reproduced update of an original, is lacking its presence in time and space. Benjamin commented that 'The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity.' As the photo shopped image is not the original and does not convey the original presence it therefore does not meet the prerequisite demands of the concept of authenticity, thus making it not "authentic".

Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?

Digital media's such as music, movies, images, and videos convey a form of art which allow for mass production, mass meaning, and mass cultural understandings. The "aura" Benjamin refers to a sense of awe at the viewing of artwork and he external attributes to the art. As these new digital media's have provoke feelings appealing to the senses, they can thus be seen as having an "aura". Digital media also allows for external attributes such as; meaning conveyed, senses appealed to, and cultural insights, thus allowing it to have that sense of "aura". Overall these digital "things" have the ability to be provoke feeling and allow for insight, so they ultimately have an "aura".

This weeks reading was Borges- tion, Uqbar, Orbis, tertius. This was another difficult reading that helped emphasis that fact and fiction can sometimes be inter weaved and it is hard to identify what is real and what is not.