Walter Benjamin's A Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, 1936

"...that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of a work of art."

Benjamin talks about the impact of mechanical reproduction on art, artists, and film, in particular.  He fixates on the idea that works of art had an "aura" that traveled with them and spoke of the time in which they were made, when art was less available before the advent of industry.  This aura withers with the dissemination of mechanically reproduced objects so much so that perhaps it does not even still exist.  The aura has transformed into something new and different since Benjamin's time.  Perhaps a better word for it would be the artist's energy or persona, or even their style.  Whatever it's called, it's what remains after a work has been exhibited and discussed in the public realm of today.

Film, in particular has had a massive impact on the viewer's perception of art.  Since film and it's forbear, photography, emerged as methods of mechanically reproduced art, the viewer has had different issues to consider when contemplating a work.  Is it a limited edition?  Where else have these been exhibited?  What kind of camera was used?  How long will this film be running?  Can I get a copy to own personally?  All these questions address issues surrounding these media.  They can be endlessly reproduced, if the artist/producers choose to do so.  They can continue to be shown indefinitely because of their reproducibility and the nature of the venue in which they are usually shown(gallery, cinema).  There are a variety of methods with which to produce photos or movies, so the making process becomes part of the viewer's consideration.  Films can be shown over and over again, days or generations apart, depending on the willingness of the artists/producers and the demand of the viewers.  Today we can find/download a copy of nearly everything we see, especially the newest works in video and digital photography which puts the viewer into the mindset of the collector and therefore, to a certain degree, the role of expert.  Connoisseurship is big now because there is so much more being produced and reproduced.  Culling through the massive amounts of media from the 20th and 21st centuries is many people's favorite hobby.  So in a nutshell, film and photography  has challenged notions of authenticity, enabled mass criticism and opened the imaginations of the masses while stretching the aura of an individual work into transleusency.

All of this brings me to a point about how mechanical reproduction has freed art from its dependence on ritual and the occult.  It used to be that if you wanted to see a great work of art, you had to know a collector or a high priest, go into their art storage and view their works of staggering virtuosity that they kept out of the public's eye.  This "cult of art" has been overthrown by advent of mechanical reproduction and its celebrated penchant for exhibition.  This freed art from the traditional confines of its perception, so that the individuality of a work of art has been substituted by a cultural pleurality.

New processes today have once again reinforced Benjamin's message.  Rapid prototyping methods such as 3d printing, laser cutting, 3d scanning, cloning(!) and many other means of digital fabrication take the hand of artist further and further away from the end result.  Publishing, exhibiting and curating online is more popular than ever.  Where this is taking us, there is no way to know.  Perhaps in another 10 years, artists with the skills and means will be digitally producing works in their studios and the notion of the aura of the individual work of art will have withered completely.  For some reason, that feels a little sad, yet liberating.