jl0630 - Benjamin

Section V in Benjamin’s “the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” talked about cult value and exhibition value. I immediately related this to an art history class I took last semester where we learned about the issues in Ankor Wat, and the relics that are being and have been illegally excavated from their original sites and are being sold on the black market by popular demand. Legislation have been passed, however, to provide repatriation of the stolen works – but curators are more specifically doing their best to locate the relics and return them back to Ankor Wat. Benjamin would support the return of artifacts to Ankor Wat because that is where they were/are recognized for their existence, not their being on view (23).
Benjamin also talks about the transformation of the work of art in prehistoric times as being an instrument of magic, and are now being recognized as being works of art. Museums today are trying hard to stay true to the objects, whether it be returning them back to their natural location if possible, or restoring and preserving them. Either way, being on display to the public eye (exhibition value) has completely created an entirely new function. No matter how well the display is presented, it will never have the ‘aura’ that it would in its natural setting.