The aura in artwork has been long lost. The aura, or attention gripping magical rush that makes one think of a piece of art as more than a mere accomplishment, but a feat of human achievement, has been lost not only by the mechanical reproduction of the actual piece, but also by technology’s effect on culture. In DaVinci’s era, I guarantee that people could gaze in amazement at his art or sculpture and really appreciate the piece because it propelled mankind forward through artistic genius. Now teens sit in class and should dissect the piece at least so it conjures some meaning, but instead they sit there glued to their fancy cell phones waiting for a text. Amazing has become ordinary. Nothing amazes the average technologically savvy snob of today’s generation because they have been spoiled. Spoiled to believe amazing just happens and the term can be thrown around for any given reason. To people in DaVinci’s time, his artwork was equivalent to how technology is viewed today. The difference is that there is only one DaVinci compared to millions of cell phones.
Everyday there is somebody mad at their cell phone for being too slow. What this person doesn’t understand is that there is a wave shooting into space, bouncing off a satellite and racing back to earth in less than a second… could you give it some time without getting upset! People are too immature to respect and appreciate the aura a DaVinci contains because they aren’t even content with what today’s generation has. Art should be timeless, but I have little faith in humanity. The number of people that walk into a museum and a library combined in a year don’t add up to the amount of YouTube hits “Cat Flushing a Toilet” gets in a few months. The reason why world renowned museums have to charge admission is because people have lost value in pieces of art. When art loses its aura, culture loses art. Media and technology is the culprit for overproducing to the point where people can’t differentiate amazing from ordinary. I agree with Walter Benjamin when he states in his book Illuminations, “During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence”[1]. Right now humanities entire mode of existence revolves around technology; hence; sense perception toward the really special things in life is skewed leaving art to the humble enthusiast.
[1] Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York, NY: Shocken Books, 1968. Print. Pg, 222
Showing posts with label cyber aura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cyber aura. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
What is the Cyber Media Industry?
The cyber media industry represents the very broad online industry that brings all forms of media onto the internet. Although the internet is much like any other form of the media, such as the news press, television, and radio, it is vastly different in that viewers have much more of a choice as to what they can watch, and more importantly, where and when they can access this media.
It is important to know, however, that the cyber media industry follows the paradigms and value that the culture industry follows. Some of these values include the mass production of certain funded medias, the display of what they think viewers want to watch, or displaying anything that will bring in revenue. Often this may lead to the "production processes which inevitably lead to the use of standard products to meet the same needs at countless locations, win which a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly" [1]. This means that the media industry attempts to tell us what we want and need through the advertisements it airs, through the playlists it recirculates, and the products that they place in shows.
Although the cyber media industry allows access to events and works of arts from miles away or years ago, it offers only a reproducible form of the art that is without its original aura. Because the "uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition" [2], a lesser quality of the work is being offered.
The cyber media industry is unique in that viewers can expose themselves to the media at their leisure. And anyone, from professional journalists to amateur video uploaders can make news. This is when credibility must be inspected because many uploaders and internet sites make videos for amusement, which "always means putting things out of mind, forgetting suffering, even when it is on display. It is indeed escape, but not, as it claims, escape from bad reality but from the last thought of resisting that reality" [3]. The cyber media industry therefore constantly produces less and less quality of media that makes the world forget instead of making the world knowledgeable.
Because the cyber media industry has become more of a business, this is a very difficult problem to change. Even greater at stake is the influence that the cyber media industry has over the masses, because the "whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry" [4].
[1] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 95.
[2]Walter, Benjamin. "Illuminations:The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". New York:Shocken Books. p. 223.
[3] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 116.
[4] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 99.
It is important to know, however, that the cyber media industry follows the paradigms and value that the culture industry follows. Some of these values include the mass production of certain funded medias, the display of what they think viewers want to watch, or displaying anything that will bring in revenue. Often this may lead to the "production processes which inevitably lead to the use of standard products to meet the same needs at countless locations, win which a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly" [1]. This means that the media industry attempts to tell us what we want and need through the advertisements it airs, through the playlists it recirculates, and the products that they place in shows.
Although the cyber media industry allows access to events and works of arts from miles away or years ago, it offers only a reproducible form of the art that is without its original aura. Because the "uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition" [2], a lesser quality of the work is being offered.
The cyber media industry is unique in that viewers can expose themselves to the media at their leisure. And anyone, from professional journalists to amateur video uploaders can make news. This is when credibility must be inspected because many uploaders and internet sites make videos for amusement, which "always means putting things out of mind, forgetting suffering, even when it is on display. It is indeed escape, but not, as it claims, escape from bad reality but from the last thought of resisting that reality" [3]. The cyber media industry therefore constantly produces less and less quality of media that makes the world forget instead of making the world knowledgeable.
Because the cyber media industry has become more of a business, this is a very difficult problem to change. Even greater at stake is the influence that the cyber media industry has over the masses, because the "whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry" [4].
[1] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 95.
[2]Walter, Benjamin. "Illuminations:The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". New York:Shocken Books. p. 223.
[3] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 116.
[4] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 99.
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