September 13th Group B presentation

1. The Work of Art in the
Mechanical Age of
Reproduction
Lawson, Shefchuk, & Wzorek

2. Art Reproduction
Important for many reasons, but principally to:
● spread art to places/people that it couldn't
have reached in its single, original form
● meet wants and demands of the masses'
desire for as much art as possible

3. Early Types of Mechanical
Reproduction
● Stamping (iron molds): Ancient Greeks used
this mainly for coins
○ http://www.classicalcoins.com/page103.html
● Woodcut: image created through carving,
engraving, or etching on wood for printing
○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgCYovlFRNY

4. Later Types of Mechanical
Reproduction
● Lithography: direct process of tracing a
design on a stone to print
○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc
● Photography: finally freed hand of previous
tasks in earlier reproduction types
○ Foreshadowed film

5. Authenticity
● = Essence of all that a piece of art has
transmitted since its creation
● = Totally unique existence and history only
an original piece can have
● Cannot be reproduced and is what art
reproductions lack
○ http://mba.yale.
edu/faculty/pdf/newmang_art_authenticity.pdf

6. Aura
● = "Unique phenomenon of distance"
● = Uniqueness and permanence an original
has
● Goes hand in hand with a piece's
authenticity, for they both reside only in
originals
○ And both are lost in art reproduction
● Undeniably linked to tradition and art's ritual
function

7. Ritual/Tradition
● Art's first purpose was for rituals/traditions,
usually of the religious type
○ "Cult/Ritual Value"
● In this view, the existence of the ritualistic art
matters more than its exhibition to people
● Cult value eventually lost steam when
"exhibition value" grew

8. Exhibition Value
● Reproduction detaches art from domain of
tradition/ritual
● Cult values shifted to exhibitionist ones as
more people demanded to see art
● As authenticity, aura, and rituals became
less important, these conflicting values
reversed in prominence
● Value shift in art also led to a change in its
intrinsic nature and how it was viewed by
people
○ http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/atheologies/1491/modern_media_and_the_%E2%80%
9Cexhibition_value%E2%80%9D_of_the_corpse

9. Relation to Chapter Two
● Presence of exhibition value is implied when
referring to fully engaging audience and their
emotional connection to a film for non
ritualistic reasons
○ Plays huge role in experience of form
● Perceived meanings, interpretations, and
evaluations of art also play a pivotal role in
experience of art that resides in the
exhibition value

10. Photography & Film
● Through these mediums more than others,
the exhibition value displaced cult value
● Films' societal immersion and significance
ensures its effect
● Ch. 2: touches upon societal influence and
interconnectedness among art and film in its
explanations of convention and experience
○ All art is a product of culture, whether ritualistic or
exhibitionist

11. Film's Inclusion in "the Arts"
Film is introduced through a comparison
between the invention of photography and the
invention of film.
Can either be considered art?
By taking out the "cult" aspect through
mechanical reproduction, Benjamin says we
are left with both film and photography having
political functions.

12. Film's Indescribable Nature
Many tried to attach characteristics of art to
film:
Compared to Hieroglyphics by Abel Gane
Described by S*Verin-Mars as an
"incomporable means of expression".
Described by Iverfel as being "supernatural".

13. The Disappearance of Film's "Aura"
The Actor and his performance go through two
filters before reaching the audience:
-The Camera
-The Editing Process
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJcQgQHR78Q 6:30
The actor's performance is not directly received
by the audience so the audience does not
perceive the actor or character's "aura."

14. Film's Connection to the Audience
Film's lack of "aura" leads to the business of
building up an actor's personality in the real
world.
The actor becomes a commodity.
http://www.imdb.com/list/50XfQs9uH8U/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_star

15. Film's Connection to the Audience
Anyone that watches film can become an actor.
Political connection:Acting becomes
"common property" that can be attainable
by all.
http://www.listal.com/list/from-singer-to-actor
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/from-cliff-richard-to-meat-loaf-the-best-1299541

16. Film's Connection to the Audience
By experiencing film, members of the audience
become experts.
Filmmakers are constantly trying to "trick"
the "expert" audience through the use of
special effects
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/31799

17. Analogy
Magician=Painter
Surgeon=Cameraman
● magician maintains a natural distance
between patient and self
○ a painter maintains in his work a distance from
reality
● surgeon diminishes the distance between
himself and patient as he handles the organs
○ a cameraman penetrates deeply into the web of
reality

18. Cameraman
● a cameraman penetrates deeply into the web of reality
○ work of a cameraman consists of multiple fragments
assembled under a new law
○ the camera intervenes with the resources of lifting
and lowering, interruptions. . .
○ with close-up, space expands; with slow motion,
movement is extended

19. Dadaism
"Dada is a state of mind... Dada is artistic free thinking...
Dada gives itself to nothing... ." So is Dada defined by
André Breton. This is not to say that Dada is definable, for it
was one of the primary goals of Dada to avoid the labeling
and legitimizing of the establishment." www-scf.usc.edu
● "They intended and achieved the relentless
destruction of the aura of their creations
which they branded as reproduction with the
very means of production."

20. DADA ART
● Assured distraction
by making works of
art a center of
scandal
● Dadaistic rule:
outrage to the
public
"The Fountain"

21. Dada Art

22. Shock and Distraction
● Dada art work is unique because of shock
value
○ disruption or distraction from the "usual"
● Dada art "hit the spectator like a bullet, it
happened to him, thus acquiring tactile
quality"
● This promoted demand for film which is
distraction
○ "based on the changes of place and focus which
periodically assail the spectator"

23. Film vs. Painting
● A painting invites a spectator to
contemplation, to abandon himself to his
associations
● In a film, as soon as your eye grasps a
scene, it changes
○ the process of association in view of images is
interrupted by constant change
■ shock effect of a film
"I can no longer think what I want to think. My
thoughts have been replaced by moving
images." ~Duhamel

24. The Masses
● Critique is that the masses seek distraction
whereas art demands concentration from the
spectator
○ concentrated spectator IS absorbed by work of art
○ distracted masses ABSORBS a work of art
● Despite being distracted, one can still form
habits while in the state of distraction

25. Habit of Expectation
● After reviewing the article and reflecting on
chapter two, it can be inferred that one of the
habits formed in the state of distraction is
expectation
○ as a viewer absorbs the changing images
(music/sound etc...), he/she develops expectations
○ the film either meets, delays, or shatters
expectations
○ the viewer then adjusts his/her expectations