User:Jasper van Loenen/RWRM/annotation-benjamin

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - in German "Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit" - is an essay written by German intellectual Walter Benjamin and was first published in 1936. In his essay, Benjamin talks about art and how it is effected by mechanical reproduction. By means of mechanical reproduction it is possible to - unlike with manual reproduction - make large quantities of replicas of works of art which are exactly the same as the work in every way but one: they will always miss the original works "aura".

According to Benjamin, the aura of a work of art is created by "its unique existence at the place where it happens to be". It is defined by both its physical appearance - like damage that occured over time - and history - like changes in ownership or the sociological context in which it is presented.

Where originally art has had its roots in tradition and cult - in service of a ritual, i.e. for magic or religion - the reproductions tend to depend more on their exhibition value. Photography and film are key examples of this shift, since they seem to have been designed for reproducibility. There is no 'original version' of a photo since you can make as many prints as you like.

When the possibility of mechanical reproduction frees art from its dependence on ritual, it can be based it on other practices - such as politics.