Imbedded in both the tangible and intangible, aura can be described as the work of art’s originality and authenticity elaborated though it’s either subtle or bold depiction of tradition and history. These irreplaceable features contain the ability to fully capture its audience and provide an experience unlike anything else. With observation, one can conclude that the public will strive to grasp and absorb that actual presence of the aura though forms in which the media provides; “the urge grows stronger to get hold of an object at very close range by way of its likeness, its reproducibility.”[1] For example, no matter how bad the quality of the video is or how unclear the audio is, as long as the proof of the event is captured, there is public satisfaction. Ultimately, it is becoming more common to experience these events through the shared experiences of others (for example, YouTube), even though our perceptions and reactions may very well vary.
However, there is a certain diminishing element as an effect of constantly needing to mechanically reproduce in this “age”[2], according to Benjamin, “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space…”[3] Sometimes the ability to recognize the original from the duplicate can be well tested, other times society submits to the fact of overcoming uniqueness and accepting the replications. The aura thus decays and with this, “culture today is infecting everything with sameness”[4]. According to Adorno, the scrutiny and deep analysis for perfection in a work of art is practiced by the replicators to an extent much greater than that of the original source.[5] This is the result of the need to feed the desires of a society fueled by hollow satisfaction and a society which falls prey to mass production. With this stated, there is an increasing deterioration of the irreplaceable aura with the aid of the culture industry and the cyber.
[1] Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1968. Print. p. 223.
[2] Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1968. Print.
[3] Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1968. Print. p. 220.
[4] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment: The Culture Industry: Enlightenment of Mass Deception. California: Stanford University Press. Print. p. 94.
[5] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment: The Culture Industry: Enlightenment of Mass Deception. California: Stanford University Press. Print. p. 101.
No comments:
Post a Comment