The auras of many works of art have been diminished due to reproduction on the internet, and these work’s cyber-auras. The original aura is the feelings of admiration and reverence that comes to those who, when they first see a work of art, have seen it in person. The cyber-aura exists in the digital world and allows people to see spectacular works from their computer. An internet photograph of the Mona Lisa is an example of a work of art being reproduced and losing its aura due to people everywhere already knowing what it looks like. Even if you were to see it in person now, you would have already lost some some appreciation because you have seen it multiple times in hundreds of different instances.
In addition the aura is connected to the original culture, and society in which it was first introduced, these have since changed over the years. Benjamin states “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work is lacking in one element: it’s presence in time and space.”[1] Reproducing old works of art to be shown to a new public also lose this aura because the place in time is different. People who bared witness to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel 1512 had a completely different veneration for it in a time when religion was a bigger part of people’s lives.
[1] Benjamin, Walter Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction pg. 220
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