"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction" wasn't the first place in which Walter Benjamin introduced
his famous concept of "Aure" and his related discussion on authenticity
in art, but it was however in which Benjamin fully developed his discussion of
the aura.
"Aura"
is a name offered by Benjamin in "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and elsewhere to designate the one-time experience of a certain
object. Benjamin discusses the different
terms for the appearance of the unique and authentic aura. In essence, the aura
is the "one-timeness" of the experience, the situation in which the
subject meets the object that cannot be reproduced. A similar expression to
that of Benjamin's aura is that of "aesthetic experience" albeit
Benjamin stresses the unique one-time experience. For Benjamin, an aura can be
possessed only the original work of art. The aura distinguished the viewer from
the work and creates the necessary detachment for a true aesthetic experience.
This
detachment is what allows, according to Benjamin in "The Work of Art in
the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", the authenticity of the artwork. The
work of art according to Benjamin bears its terms and times of creation which
make up its originality and authenticity. These contexts of creation that are
born by the original work of art maintain the distance between it and the
viewer and maintain the disposition required for a true appreciation of art.
Replicas, according to Benjamin, lack the authentic aura of the original. In a
sense, Benjamin is fetishistic in attributing the original work of art traits
that duplications lack.
Benjamin's
ideas about the aura and its relations to authenticity can account, for
example, for why original works of art are valued in millions of dollars while
anyone can purchase a reproduction for just a few dollars. The reproduction of
works of art in modern times causes, according to Benjamin in "The Work of
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", the loss of the aura and the loss of authenticity
in the aesthetic experience.
see also:
Reproduction and the loss of the Aura
aesthetic and the political
see also:
Reproduction and the loss of the Aura
aesthetic and the political
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