Synopsis II

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

In “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Recombination,” Dutch philosopher Joe de Mul discusses Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and through this work of Benjamin de Mul looks at its relevancy in our daily lives. As we spend a lot of time in front of our computers, de Mul analyzes that the interface of our computers structures and changes our aesthetic experiences. Nowadays it’s better to look at the manipulative value of a certain than at the value of exhibiting a work of art. He claims that the authenticity no longer resides in the history of a work but in it the virtual quality of a work. The databases of today, he believes allows us to make infinite searches, (re-)combinations and through this constant transformation it could be considered as a work of art. As our lives seem to move from our houses to cyberspace. According to this huge changes de Mul points out that it is necessary that we also change our way we look at art and the way we critique art along with the digital evolution in order to keep up and understand art.