According to Bejamin, aura is an "element" of art which is "it's presence in time and space, it's unique existence at the place where it happens to be." In other words, aura is a feeling created by the work of art. This feeling comes from a perceived "authority" in the work because it is original. (Benjamin 220)
The problem with reproducing a work of art, is then that it can't be trusted. Without the authority of having been the first, art no longer inspires reverence and awe. It requires no "contemplation" on the behalf of a "spectator", and instead seeks to do the contemplating itself. (Benjamin 238) Like art, the cyber realm requires only passive participation.
For example, on this web-page, I am invited to select options predetermined by the site, such as "PUBLISH POST," "View Blog," etc. I am limited to these options, and while I may chose amongst them I may not create new options. The contemplating has been done for me, my desires for navigation presumed and organized so that I may not even consider an alternate one.
The flow of information received is, as well, a false illusion of choice. In class we discussed advertisements on facebook as catered suggestions. Users fill out their sexual orientation, birthday, etc., in order to create a profile. This profile information is supposedly for the sake of itself, yet is used to push back information in the form of target marketing.
Why put up with this? Unlike Art, cyberspace does not have a particular place. It is ever-occuring both, here and there. It's authority comes, instead, from creating it's own place. Before the internet there was no such thing as cyber-space, before art...there was other art. The originality of cyberspace by comparison is huge. It escapes the boundaries of time and location, while still preserving it's aura.
The Culture Industry is a machine which circulates "ready made cliche's."(Horkheimer 98) It starts as an economic force which invests in cultural practices as a medium to approach individuals and society. Over time, the economy becomes so intermixed with culture that it begins to have a say in it's practices. It establishes the norms and the people consume culture as a product. Art, serves as an expression of discontent, and entertainment an escape. Eventually, art and entertainment are industrialized and so is the individual. The system collapses on itself so that value, be it economic or social, is merely a self-perpetuating semblance of what culture wants itself to be.
The Cyber Industry, represents the ideal form of the culture industry. Like the example of radio given in The Culture Industry, the Cyber Industry is ingrained so much that it can advertise simply "by the sublime advertisement" of not advertising. (Horkheimer 128) Websites don't cost money to visit, but internet requires installation of cables and service to survive. In what Adorno and Horkheimer conclude is the last stage of the culture industry, cyberspace achieves "fascism," by doing exactly what it claims not to do and getting away with it. (Horkeimer 129)
Websites like facebook survive on advertisements which make their presence known subtly, in corners and in friendly questions like "Would you also like this purse." ? But are persistant in that, having a facebook, means having advertisements on facebook. A personal profile is no longer personal, it is a site of industry. If discontented, there is one option: don't have a facebook.
Through a threat of exclusion, the Cyber Industry is powerful. Like fascists, this industry understands that without an ability to e-mail, research, create a profile, etc., people are alienated. So out of fear, rise the most devoted fascists, as do the most industrious internet users. They have wi-fi and road-runner, smart-phones and ipod's. Always connected, a walking advertisement.
Works Cited
Benjamin, Walter, and Hannah Arendt. Illuminations. New York: Schocken, 2007. Print.
Adorno, Theodor and Horkheimer, Max. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002.
No comments:
Post a Comment