a) What is the “Aura” of a work of art?
The “Aura” is the “unique existence” or presence of an object that moves us farther from reality using a “unique phenomenon of a distance.” Benjamin asserts that an object gains authority because of the way it is experienced. Traditionally this is enhanced with that object’s connection to the ritual or rituals (i.e. religion). There is no replica of a presence. If an object is mechanically reproduced you are not really experiencing that object in a quality way (according to my reading of Benjamin).
b) In Benjamin’s mind, what effects did mechanical reproduction, such as film and the camera/photography, have on the viewer’s perception of art?
The camera/photography create a non-quality viewpoint of an object because it is a directed one and it often distorts or changes a real experience. For example, with a camera one can zoom in on an object, or slow down or speed up time. An experience or performance could also be viewed from multiple viewpoints. These distortions are different from how one would encounter a stage performance. There is also a loss of interaction or play between the audience and the object or performance because the performer could not play off of the audience and the audience could not change their experience.
c) What is meant by the passage: “for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.”
There is no original so there is no unique work with an aura, and, therefore, artwork is no longer connected with the ritual. As art’s function becomes reproduction, it becomes connected to politics instead.
d) What mechanically or otherwise reproductive processes are changing the face of art today?
Computer software, cell phones, the Internet, digital fabrication (rapid prototyping, laser cutting, etc.), T.V. (portable T.V. is making a comeback), etc.
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