Annotation---The work of art in the age of digital recombination

The work of art in the age of digital recombination ---Jos de Mul

In this essay, Jos de Mul’ idea was developed based on Walter Benjamin’s “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”. Jos introduced Benjamin’s theory which is in the age of mechanical reproduction the “aura” and “cult value” of the work of art been replaced into “exhibition value”. Then Jos explained the idea of database ontology chaiming that everything is becoming a database. at the last part of the essay he believe in the age of digital recombination the “aura”of art work returned but returned with a twist(more transient and unstable) , and the “exhibition value” being replaced by “manipulation value”.

Cult value vs. exhibition value

Benjamin believe that before the age of mechanical reproduction the work of art’s dominant type was characterized by uniqueness and singularity. He designate the uniqueness of the material and historical of the work of art is “aura”. It serve the ritual function and connects with the concept of “cult value”. In the auratic work of art the sensible and the supersensible, the material signifier and the spiritual meaning, are inseparably linked with one another. However in the age of mechanical reproduction the uniqueness and permanence of the auratic object are being replaced by transitoriness and reproducibility. Benjamin chaimed “ the work of art is that in the age of mechanical reproduction by means of print, photograohy and film, we experience a radical loss of aura. The cult value of artworks will gradually vanish and gives way to exhibition value.

Although Benjamin hold melancholic undertones of the age of mechanical reproduction, he also notice that “mechanical media” possess a fundamental democratic and even revolutionary potential. In the age of the age of mechanical reproduction art work can “access for all ”, also allowed progressive artist to “politicize the arts”and mobilize the masses against the fascist “aesthetization of politics”. Jos de Mul tend to hold the ambiguity towards the age of mechanical reproduction. He believe it is neither simply be hailed as cultural progress nor simply doomed as cultural decline, mechanical reproduction brings both Opportunities and new dangers.

Database ontology

Starting with explaination of “digital recombination” and simple difination of “new media art”. Jos de Mul chaims that on a fundamental level all media art works share four basic operations “add, browse, change, and destroy”, which correspind to the structured query language commands “insert, select, update, and delete”. And this dynamic elements called “database ontology”.

Compare to the limitation of flat database, Jos mention the tendency of more and more flexibility and complexity of current development of electronic and network database. However the database not only exist in the world of computing also function as “material metaphors” used for genetic engineering or industrial robots. It functions as a conceptual metaphor which structures our experience of ourselves and of the world. Everything is becoming a database.

Jos also use two examples (medical experiment of mouse with human ear implanted on its back and Kac’s fluo rabbit) in order to raise the question whether this ‘fluo rabbit’ can be called a work of art? And how to define the distinction between artistic and non-artistic objects?

Database aesthetics and politics

Jos introduce a Dutch computer artist Geert Mul who built a interactive installation W4, which allow visitors to display the collection of digital archive of the museum. Jos believe th W4 is a brilliant example of human-computer in terface design and an autonomous work of art is its manipulation value. Because of this “manipulation value” enable user to change and insert new elements in the database and each query becomes a unique recombination. the age of digital recombination brings the return of the aura. However this digitally manipulated objects are inherently unstable and transient. Jos noted that database ontology is not restricted to the domain of culture, but applies to nature and politicians as well both becoming more and more dependent on their manipulation value. as a consequence we gradually become the ultimate object of digital manipulation.