LightningBolt, Benjamin

A word that Walter Benjamin repeatedly links to the concept of reproduction is “tradition.” We now live in a time where things are created, then copied and produced in mass quantities. It is incredible rare now to own something that has never been reproduced. It was not too long ago when things where made by hand and each object was slightly different because it was made by the human hand, which is incapable of perfection. It is now a reasonable thought to assume that if you see an object that someone owns it will be no harder than going to an internet site to purchase it. This increase in mass production has taken away the tradition, uniqueness, and the story in all the goods, art, and clothes that we own.

While traveling in South America I saw this beautiful painting, it was something that I had to have, but I decided I would explore the rest of the day and buy it on my way back so I would not have to carry it the entire day. To my surprise the entire city was covered in little shops selling almost exact replicas of this painting. I felt stupid to think that it was a unique painting and I was finding a treasure. After seeing all of the replicas I had no desire to buy the painting. It had no more meaning to me than a rip off they get all the tourist to buy. It is amazing how something being an original provokes such different feelings than after something is reproduced. Benjamin is right, there was no tradition in the piece for me, there was no mystery in its time of existence, or previous owners.

After reading Benjamin I feel a bit sad that I live in a time of reproductions. I think it would be fascinating and meaningful to live in a time when everything was original and unique.

post-it note, Benjamin

The notion of aura is the most memorable to be from Banjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”. To me the word “aura” means a feeling or idea sparked by something else, a symbol to remember something else by. The dictionary says it is “a distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing or place” (I promise that I looked up the word after I described it myself!). Songs usually have positive or negative auras about them depending on the place that a person first heard it in. If that place holds loving and exciting memories, that song becomes a medium that evokes loving and exciting memories when it is played. But these memories are not the same as the genuine memories that were felt as a result of something else when the song was heard the first time. When art is reproduced, it is recreated, but not by the same hands as the original. If we used Michelangelo as an example, if someone were to paint another ceiling, it would not be with the knowledgeable hands of an artist made famous by painting an amazing ceiling; they would become the person who did what Michelangelo did. All of the time that has passed over the paint laid by Michelangelo’s brush set gives the Sistine Chapel a ceiling that exists in the past among modern time and people. This aura allows the Sistine Chapel to be considered a special place in history that we are able to visit today. The aura of photographs are the reason that I hang them in places that I can see often everyday. They evoke feelings that I had when the pictures were taken. While the picture can be reprinted, the feelings are as close to the real ones that can be “seen” in the pictures, even though people who view the picture could never feel the same way about the image or the people in it or its backdrop as I. Aura is a very dangerous thing, as time passes, the feelings evoked by certain things in the present cause us to reminisce in the past as if time has not boundary.

Marie89, Benjamin

I had never thought of art as dependent upon politics or social movements, but I guess it does have a lot to do with how the world is perceived. On page 21, Benjamin states that the reproduction and permitting of reproduction of artwork leads, “to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind” (21). It is interesting to think that along with capitalism came a new way to create and classify artwork. The ways in which people perceive these things have changed as well as new mediums have become available which suggests a new type of control over the viewer. For example, the camera has full control over the emotion of the viewer of film, museums may control who views artwork and in which way as it may be prefaced for mass viewing, and other new forms have begun to enter the realm of “art.” Going along with this new form as perception brings up another point which is stated on page 21 as well, “The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well” (21). In other words, the ways in which we communicate, view artwork, etc, have changed over time as new things that add to our overall existence have emerged. After reading this, I immediately thought about Facebook and the new world in which social networking has evolved. Texting and social networking sites have begun to change the ways in which relationships form and are maintained, just as film, etc. have changed the ways in which the mass media view and think about artwork. With great shifts in the Internet and what has the overwhelming amount of information available, the ways in which people function is forever changed and will continue to change. I do not believe that art has been commodified, but rather modified with changing times. One should not expect that the way art is viewed would be timeless, as people are always gaining more information through a surplus of sources.

ginger griffin, Benjamin

It is very important to note that Paul Valery saw this coming and in the article he states, "Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from from far off to satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images , which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign." (20) Though he might have foreseen technology reaching the lengths it has today, he still knew something was going to happen.

This article talks a lot about how far we have come from either the mass reproduction of art to simply how the are being reproduced. It is divided into subsections and each one talks a little bit about different aspects of change. I think there was one quote, other than the one above, that really helped me to understand just how these changes occur and it brought to life the differences in them, "just as lithography virtually implied the illustrated newspaper, so did photography foreshadow the sound film." (20) Its is an analogy, lithography-newspaper and photography-film.

There were a few instances were I was not sure what Walter Benjamin was talking about but for the most part I understood. I am excited to see what Dr. Rogers has to talk about this article and which songs will be playing in the beginning of class. I think a good choice would be "Let's see how far we've come" by Matchbox 20.

Dot, Benjamin

In Walter Benjamin's article on the mechanical reproduction of art he provides many insightful ideas on the ways we understand art and culture in our society today. However, throughout the entire reading I kept thinking about a quote by Paul Valery that was mentioned in the beginning of the article. About one hundred year ago Valery said that "just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our homes from far off to satisfy our needs in response to minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign". Although he predicted this would happen, I can not image that Valery believed that technology would advance so far as it has today.

Visuals and auditory images certainly do flow quickly in and out of our homes in forms of television, computers, the internet, cell phones, i pods and more. We are so used to having all of these things and the images they bring us that their significance is often over looked. We hardly ever realize the significance of having the power to press the power button on our remote controls and instantly get updates and entertainment from around the world. We are constantly viewing such images that they become ordinary and we forget how culturally significant they actually are. Through reading what Benjamin had to say, I was able to regain some perspective on the importance of having such technological and reproduction-style capabilities and was able to see just how big of a role they play in understanding our culture.

As insightful as Valery seems to have been, how could be have possibly predicted such advancement? Did he envision it at the level it is today? If we have come this far in one hundred years, where will our technology take us in another hundred? I can only hope that the people of tomorrow can understand how important the advancements they will enjoy are to their past and that they will continue to develop them for the future. 

Trapnest, 1/29

The field trip downtown was most certainly interesting. While I don’t think we had enough time to adequately see enough of a variety of buildings, nor everything our downtown had to offer, I do think it began to put the concepts within our heads just from the small sampler that we did receive. I find myself passing by the buildings that I normally pay little or no attention to and trying to think of the concepts we discussed and apply them. It is both a useful way to study and remember the information, as well as mentally elaborate more on it.

For example, I found myself thinking, “Why do so many buildings relate to the past?” In reflecting on the courthouse, and the bank, both designs drew from classical or even ancient trends in architecture. I feel that for something to be valid it needs to relate to something that has already been established as stable, important, and “beautiful.” It’s almost a sense of anamnesis I feel, while the buildings do not (for the sake of this explanation) look exactly like what they are representing, they do evoke a certain emotion and feeling from within us. Upon looking at someone we may immediately think of “Roman Forum” which has a plethora of associations with it, such as “important” or “long-lasting.”

All of this occurring on the subconscious level I feel is also something very important to note. This is because there are all sorts of discussions on the effects of media upon viewers who are reacting to it on the subconscious level. Buildings have almost become a functional billboard, to continue our subconscious “training” with these companies in what they want us to feel and think when we look at their ads, buildings, and function.

Savvy, 1.29.09

I felt that the field trip dowtown was very beneficial and coencided perfectly with what we were learning in class. Often professors attempts to bring the material being dicsussed into our everyday lives falls short. I have been attending Rollins for three years and have never looked our thought about the buildings and their achitecture in downtown Orlando before. Our field trip has made me look at not only Orlando's building architecture, but buildings everywhere now. I also never really thought about the thought that has gone into designing the buildings and cities before. It was interesting to see how architecture can portray ideas and feelings. I couldn't help but to think of how the Court House downtown reminded me of those seen in Washington. One could tell that it is a court house from it outwards appearance. The Court House also reminded me of older buildings of indoor train stations.

I think that it is important for professors to bring the material being discussed in class out into the real world. It helps students to make a connection about how they can apply what they are learning in class into their everyday lives. By going on the field trip we were able to see how postmodernism can be found in our lives. I think that the field trip was very beneficial and a breathe of fresh air from learning in the classroom.