WALTER BENJAMIN The Decay of Aura by Diane

WALTER BENJAMIN & The Decay of Aura by Diane Rarick

t literary critic is rx a M a s a w in m ja Walter Ben ay “The Work of Art ss e r la u p o p st o m whose ical Reproduction” n a h c e M f o e g A e in th een art and tw e b n io ct e n n o c e examined th technology. His theory is tha t aura is a “stran ge web of space and time” or “a distance as close as it can be. ” Aura is associated with the traditional, nostalgic notion s of artwork and is lost with the onset of photog raphy.

ugh its rtrayed thro o p s i k r o f artw The aura o and space e im t n i e c presen A sense o f aw unique exis e is perceived from its tence at th e place wh happens t ere it o be.

Aura implies au thenticity but th ere is no authenticity with out its destructio n in mechanical reproducibility. C onfronted with i ts manual reproduction the original preserv ed all its authority.

The unique ness of a w ork of inseparable from its be art is ing imbedd the fabric o ed in f tradition. The destruction of aura in mechanical reproduction signals the passage from the artwork as cult to the artwork as exhibit.

With the emancipatio n of the various art practices from ritual g o increasing opportunities for the exhibition of their p roducts. t the copy u p n a c n o ti c u rod Technical rep s which n o ti a u it s to in of the original th r o f h c a re f o would be out itself.

ses desire to bring The contemporary mas anly, while um h nd a lly ia at sp r se lo things c y accepting its b ed ct je re is ss ne ue uniq reproduction. Breaking the distance is widely accep ted & favored

Photographs are infinitely reproducible and are detached from the aura of the original. easure of m e m o s d ance hs retaine n p e a t r n g u o o t c o h n Early p the huma n o jects, g b u in s s u r c e o h f t o y aura b hy took on p a r g o t o h – but as p lue for a v n o the t io y it t i ib r h o i x r e e “the ws its sup o h s e im t t the firs. ” ritual value

The instant the criterion of authentic ceases to be ity applicable t o artistic production, the total fun ction of art is reversed. The work of art becomes designed for reproducibility.

The artistic performan ce of a sta presented t ge actor is o the public by the acto person; the r in actors aur a is presen t. sn't whole, it i e c n a rm o rf e p A film actor’s es and camera k ta l ra e v e s n i e is don ection to the n n o c e h T. s le g an by a camera. d te n e s re p s i e c audien

n artificial a h it w a r u a hriveling of s e h t o t s d n the studio. e id ts u o y Film respo t li e persona build-up of th The movie star is bor n to promote the art of film

Mechanically reproduced images, however perfect they are, are missing the point of presence—the presence of the object—that gives it its aura.

The loss of aura is now bas nostalgia ed in . n makes way for o ti c u d ro p re l a ic n Mecha o enhance our t s e c n e ri e p x e rn mode future.