Week 3 Aura

In "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935), Walter Benjamin addresses the artistic and cultural, social, economic, and political functions of art in a capitalist society. Benjamin challenges art work authenticity, value, production and politics. This reading made me think about how when you enter a gallery, photography isn’t aloud. It is important to retain original ideas and prevent art work replications. In one class we debated whether or not there are any original ideas, it was an interesting topic to discuss especially in fine arts. During our zoom class we discussed how putting replicas of famous fine art work on novelty items like t-shirts, socks, or magnets can affects the original art works worth. In one way, it extends the reach and audience of the art. More people see it that wouldn’t be able to see it in person. If the artist was gaining revenue from all of the replicated work, they would be extremely wealthy from it. Especially because it is continued revenue from a single piece of art. Unfortunately this is not always the case. On another hand, Mechanical reproduction of artwork can negatively affect the worth of the original work. If anybody can take a picture of the Mona Lisa and put it on the internet for viewers to see for free, do they still have a reason to buy the art? If the artist isn’t benefiting from the viewing of their work, it is unfair that anyone can print that image off of the internet and hang it on their wall without any recognition or profits going to the original artist. 

“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing 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 physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.” 

Printmaking and analogy photography have similarities and differences. The process of Analog photography, also known as film photography, is an artistic process for all term for photography. It uses a chemical processes to capture an image, typically on paper, on film or on a hard plate. Printmaking, however, is an artistic process based on the principle of transferring images from a matrix onto another surface, most often paper or fabric. Traditional printmaking techniques include woodcut, etching, engraving, and lithography, while modern artists have expanded available techniques to include screenprinting.Types of art reproductions include painting reproduction, print reproduction, and photographic reproduction. Oil painting reproductions are paintings that have been created by copying in oils an original oil painting by an artist. Oil painting reproductions are distinct from original oil painting such as are often of interest to collectors and museums. A printed reproduction is just a copy of another image, there is no artistic process involved. A photographic reproduction is simply a photographic image or copy of an existing piece of artwork. 


I’ve included an image of a reproduction of artwork that I took myself inside of a retail store that I work in. It is one of Frida Kahalos famous self portraits on a pair of earrings. (Even this image of this reproduction is a reproduction, interesting haha) 

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