Aura/Culture Industry

In “Illuminations,” Walter Benjamin talks about the aura of a work of art. He basically says that an aura cannot be reproduced and can be lost through time. An aura is a sensation and an intangible concept. If one were to reproduce a work of art, it would not have the same element that it once had before: its existence in time and space (Benjamin 220). Benjamin tries to explain the aura by saying, “on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range in the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the ‘aura’ of those mountains, of that branch” (Benjamin 223). By this he means that, if you were to hold the picture of a mountain range, you would not experience the same “impact” that it would’ve had on you, if you were there in person. The aura is present when the work of art is still in process. It manifests itself until it reaches its full potential in time and space. The CyberAura is the aura from images, videos and text on the Internet. It can also be said that it is not an aura but a false “copy". Thus causing one to see it and want it but in turn is not wholly pleased with the outcome of having it.
In “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” Adorno states that “culture today is infecting everything with sameness” (Adorno 94). He claims that culture industry manipulates the mass population into conformity. The writers also states that, “films and radio no longer need to present themselves as art. The truth that they are nothing but business is used as an ideology to legitimize the trash they intentionally produce” (Adorno 95). Everything that we see this day and age, is presented to us or "imposed" on us by capitalistic oppressors that make us conform. “The culture industry remains the entertainment business. Its control of consumers is mediated by entertainment, and its hold will not be broken by outright dictate but by the hostility inherent in the principle of entertainment to anything which is more than itself". The culture industry constantly, shows us what we want. It puts the object of our desire in front of your eyes to see. The anticipation that we will get some sort of pleasure out of something drives us more into the warped hole of the industry. In Cyberspace, the culture industry imposes itself through advertisement. It analyzes who you are and your interest. For example, Facebook the popular social networking site has ads on the right side. If one were to use my profile page as an example, they would see that the advertisements promote photography courses and El Monterey Mexican food. In conclusion, the Cyberaura and Cyberindustry are nothing but a false façade of what we want.

Works Cited

Adorno, Theodor W., and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2002. Print.

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Schocken, 1995. Print.