The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin, is an essay that proposes and explains how mechanical reproduction has taken up the uniqueness of original artwork. This age lacks more of personal and traditional touch and promotes mass production. His essay promotes the authenticity of artists, art history, cultural authority, cultural studies, and media theory.
Walter Benjamin believed that fine art has developed and today it is different from the past. It has gained significant acknowledgement. But with this increasing adaptability and precision, the physical element is no longer present as it used to be. We must expect changes in the art, techniques in the future to come but the physical element should not be lost. He believed that even the most perfect reproduction of work lacks one element- Its physical presence in space and time. That is the authenticity of that artwork.
The original work of art is independent of mechanical reproduction or mass production but the presence of it in some other place using mechanical reproduction decreases its aesthetic and traditional value. The uniqueness of that artwork is not present in the mass-produced copy. Art has become political rather than being theological. Works of artworks were valued on two different planes:
Cult Value- Artworks that were present and what mattered was their existence, not the view. Example- An original artwork that was accessible to only some people.
Exhibition Value- Artworks that were presented to the spectators to look and appreciate. Example- Picture of that original artwork, that can be sent anywhere.
The mechanical reproduction of art has reduced the cult value of an artwork, removing the original art from its space and time and exhibiting into a mobile screen, has decreased the value of the original artwork. Art is being used as a product nowadays and is just being sold.