Walter Benjamin on Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility

Dr. Ellie Anderson, philosophy professor and co-host of Overthink podcast, breaks down Walter Benjamin's famous (and somewhat challenging!) essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility", exploring key concepts such as the aura, cultic/exhibition value, and politicizing art. How did technologies of reproduction change art and how we perceive it? Textbook is Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology reader, ed. Cahn and Meskin (Blackwell, 2008).
This video is part of a series introducing philosophers' views of art and aesthetics.
For more from Dr. Anderson, check out Overthink on KZbin, or listen to our conversational podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We've got numerous audio podcast episodes on the philosophy of art!

[@adamh9579]

1.Benjamin discusses the concept of "aura," which refers to the unique presence of a work of art in time and space. The reproducibility of art through photographs and film challenges the notion of aura, as reproductions lack the original work's unique existence. 2. The shift from cult value to exhibition value, where art is no longer tied to rituals and magic, but becomes something to be viewed by the masses. 3. The film actor performs for the camera, detached from a live audience. Film actors, unlike stage actors, represent themselves rather than embodying a character, leading to the development of a cult of personality around them. However, this loss of aura for film actors is compensated by the audience's identification with the camera, which Benjamin sees as antithetical to cult value.

[@robertalenrichter]

The thing is, even today, a painting looks different in person. The root of “Zerstreuung” is “spreading, scattering” i. e. when sowing seeds in a field. Interesting word for being entertained.

[@fernhausluv44]

Yes!! Have been waiting for Overthink to cover Benjamin for a while. Think you did a great job so far! :)

[@user-xm6cv1jq5i]

Dr. Ellie Anderson, I always enjoy watching what you share. When you look into a book explaining something on it, I feel that you are a gifted, genuine scholar who makes people watching you feel happy and thus concentrate on the subject you are lecturing on. Thank you very much and hope you also enjoy your energetic life!

[@DemetriosKongas]

This distinction between cult/magic and exhibition in art is interestingly manifested in the different words used by the ancient Greeks and Romans for sculpture - agalma and statua respectively. For the Greeks a piece of sculpture was an agalma from agalesthai meaning to delight, to take pride in, whereas for the Romans it was a statua from stare which means to stand (in a corner?).

[@a.e.jabbour5003]

Fascinating. I will say this: When I first saw the Mona Lisa in person, about 20 (?) years ago, I had a very powerful emotional response. One that surprised me, in fact. Like anyone else, I had seen the image 1000s and 1000s of times before I finally made it to Paris. So that sort of emotional effect really kind of shocked me. Don't quite know where that fits in with The Aura, but it was certainly intense. I remember reading and thinking about Benjamin a lot back when I was in school, six million years ago. I hadn't really studied him much since, though. So I'm thankful for this, in that it has renewed a nearly lost interest in me, for sure.

[@mayanksharmaRecites]

Happy to come across this video. I like the way you explain.

[@Grumman_HellCat_F6F]

Feel like there should be a part two...

[@hairyfrank]

I agree! This is a very interesting lecture. The last segment ends before it really begins and I feel extremely left hanging, wanting her to tell me more about this politicization of art.

[@annabelmcgannon7376]

thank you so much for making these ideas so understandable! as a photographer i truly appreciate it

[@artlessons1]

Thank You! Being an artist and teacher I enjoyed this, and can relate to it!

[@dakotadalton2536]

I'm curious if similar discussions were being had about mechanical reproduction when the printing press came about. Similarly, interesting to think of whether a poet putting pen to paper is alienated compared to their forebears in the oral tradition.

[@jimhalpert4017]

Very interesting perspective

[@kourtneyhicks4585]

bless! you are helping me pass my final

[@salifscott4664]

Your videos have inspired me to pursue philosophy!

[@Grumman_HellCat_F6F]

Envoy your work Drs. Keep it coming!

[@albertsonntag754]

Thanks!

[@M.O.1981]

Thank you.

[@kerryarrant1523]

In Anthropology, objects that have no utility / useful value often are viewed as religious artifacts.

[@DemetriosKongas]

It is amazing how the mechanical reproduction of music in records, cds and youtube etc has not obliterated live music, photography has not obliterated painting and, most importantly, the cinema has not obliterated theatre. As a matter of fact, theatre, live music and even painting have thrived. People still want and seek the unique and the challenging, despite pop culture which is formulaic and escapist.

[@jerrylin9744]

It can be argued that while theatre and live performance still exist, however it is somewhat overshadowed by their reproductions.

[@nickjerrat]

hmm reminds me of discussions in intellectual property law

[@nurulahad3162]

well, first person to view and like!

[@harisubramanian4165]

So what???

[@nijoodubey3164]

is that a ganesha pendant ellie?

[@marklandwehr7604]

I can't wait to copy all the art that interest me😂🎉 2 which is in the public domain

[@shyamasingh9020]

Your depth of perception schematics surfacing deep rooted reflection on reality engineering hidden connections between arts history, religious cult movements and cultural spiritual warfare mentality fighting within shadows of self image derived out of otherwise voices over Silent living Text documented outcomes of personalized touchy subjective experiences across operations theatre, film productions houses and video games music labels industry rendering different modes of receptions

[@renzo6490]

Imagine being shown a high quality painted forgery of a famous work of art and being told it was the original. Will you feel the aura in its presence?

[@DJK-cq2uy]

Wow!! All those books. Im sure thruve all bee read?

[@yanagudimova]

Mona Lisa would never sell bagels.

[@pcdm43145]

Who knows, though? Seems like everybody's "cashing-in & selling-out," these days...

[@MatthewSquiresMusic]

Would love a video on “The Task of the Translator” and/or “On The Concept of History”

[@jakefromthetimeline]

kino eye vibes

[@neddelamatre9572]

The argument could be made that art, like religion, has always had a political aspect.

[@pablovalle2244]

I love you

[@sarbajitghosh5244]

Hi

[@wandamishmash]

I really appreciate this content but the sibilant s sounds are really noticeable 😵maybe there’s something that can be done with the audio input?

[@brianowens889]

Part that hit me the most was the loss of “aura” and ritualized cult appreciation of art. 100%. Musical reproduction has devalued the entire art. Wild that he thought reproduction would lead to the defeat of fascism when film and music are made to he consumed and discarded while internalizing points of views and modes of thinking pushed from monopolistic business douches. Appreciate you taking time to explain an essay that wouldn’t be in my next 10,000 books to read lol

[@doylesaylor]

I find Benjamin very problematic creating terms like aura. Thanks for your pronunciation of Benjamin’s name by the way. At the time he was writing about aesthetics there was very limited understanding of neuroscience. Trying to discuss artistic output as an aura neglects what has been important in image making as digitization took hold. Essentially summed up by the Facebook name change, meta, what is outside the boundaries of an image. Aura evokes spiritual concepts in readers. So the sense of uniting an image in various technical ways is not addressed by using the word aura. Uniting or connecting imagery such as in movies is like what Benjamin claims in his theorizing. Since he uses aesthetics which is a field in philosophy, it seems his speculation about an aura to especially as Benjamin was a Marxist link aesthetics to realism or scientific stances. One hundred years later then his essay has to be framed by especially in mechanical reproduction what actually happens in uniting or connecting images to bring alive what he was thinking about. Essentially he was describing what is outside (aura) the frame and that connectivity in consumption of moving images.

[@Cyberphunkisms]

the prominence of affirmative action in society reaffirms ideas that i shouldnt be thinking about when thinking about this, but unfortunately, standpoint epistemology is neoliberal colonialism so i have no choice.

[@zUMERSAL]

how are you not acting?

[@tygbsn]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ways_of_Seeing introduced me to this concept. So good!