Benjamin's essay, “The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, stresses how art goes through a change when it is reproduced. On page 3, Benjamin suggests that “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be”. This is interesting to consider, because an analog piece of art held in a museum is going to have a much greater affect on it’s audience than if it was mass produced online and found on google images with very little effort. Benjamin brings up the concept of aura, and explains how an artwork’s aura is removed once it is mechanically reproduced. He gives the example of viewing a landscape and feeling the shadow of a tree. If that moment was reproduced the aura would no longer be present and thus the experience would not be as special. Benjamin goes on to say that the authenticity of a work of art is based in ritual, the original process of art involved creating a unique piece. Now that everything is replicated each piece becomes less traditional and less authentic. In photography a copy of a print and the original look almost identical, and therefore the authentic image loses importance.
In film, the actor and the audience have a completely different relationship than the audience would have with an actor on stage. On stage the actor can interact with the audience and feed off of their energy provided by their physical presence, where as a film actor only has a relationship with camera. All viewers will witness the exact presentation when watching the film, whereas watching a live play, every audience would enjoy a different, authentic acting experience. When watching a film the viewer may have difficulty grasp the intensity of each scene because things are changing so quickly, which differs from an analog piece of art. “The painting invites the spectator to contemplation; before it the spectator can abandon himself to his associations. Before the movie frame he cannot do so. No sooner has his eye grasped a scene than it is is already changed (Benjamin, 13).
Published ten years later, Busch’s essay “As We May Think” suggests how humans may embrace technology over the years. While Benjamin compares old technology to new, Busch goes on to predict what may happen in the future. On page 2, Busch gives an example of how a normal man may go throughout his day and which technologies he may encounter: “As he moves about and observes, he photographs and comments. Time is automatically recorded to tie the two records together. If he goes into the field, he may be connected by radio to his recorder. As he ponders over his notes in the evening, he again talks his comments into the record. His typed record, as well as his photographs, may both be in miniature, so that he projects them for examination”. This quote is interesting because in today’s time all people are completely addicted to technology, possibly moreso than Busch could have predicted.
When Busch describes a time where a memex could be used to store all of our information, it is funny because in 2011 we have so much advanced technology to help us store our music, photographs, documents, etc on our computers. “A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory” (Busch, 4). Today these ideas are so common we don’t even stop to realize how conveneient they are. It is also interesting how he predicts that there will be technological resources for finding out information such as the tides for each day. Now, using the internet, we can find out anything at the push of a button usually for free. If we want to check the weather online, we can have a ten day forecast in front of us in 15 seconds.
Busch and Benjamin were very intelligent to predict so long ago how the future would be. I think that these articles are important for our class because it is helpful to know how people thought about technology throughout the years. Knowing how technology evolved will help us understand how it became what it is today and can help suggest where it may go in the future.
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