In response to, A work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, by Walter Benjamin 1936

Walter Benjamin, a man of careful consideration and introspective thought displays throughout this essay, a highly detailed understanding of a paradigm shift that occurred within society and it's relation to the visual arts after the invention of the camera. With the cameras ability to "perceive more swiftly than the hand can draw," W. Benjamin, the art of being an artist shifted quickly with the vigor of an earthquake’s rattling aftershocks. It disrupted the elusive love affair between brush and canvas. It stole the effectiveness the artist had to capture the feeling within their brush stoke. The camera hatched a new breed of viewers and users, spreading a feverish virus throughout the art world as a whole.

Benjamin describes the act of creating art as ritualistic in form and sewn tightly to cult ideals. Thusly speaking, art was much more than a visible, tangible item; it had allure, it was sought after and admired. The viewer created a connection with the piece they connected to it as a living object. Benjamin describes what they where feeling as the "aura" of the piece.

What is the "Aura" of a work of art? It is the intrinsic potential between the work itself and the viewer. At the very moment that ones eyes gaze upon a new image, there is a chemical reaction. Energy starts to flow, memory cells are dividing, nerve endings reach a core temperature and they begin firing at a rapid pace. Your hypothalamus, a major part of the human brain, actually creates, with in this immediate response, poly-peptides that tell your cells in your body how to react. Right at this moment your mind starts to make correlations; is this good, bad, scary, happy, loving or am I indifferent?

This is happening for one reason and one reason only; you, as the viewer, are trying in every way possible to identify with the image, name it, pin it down; as if it could be only as you see it. Your personal interpretation of the colors, shapes, depth, angle and overall subject matter either draws you closer or pushes you away. Amazingly, it is different for each and every individual that takes the time to look at the image. The aura is the essence a work of art has to offer.

The best part of art, is that it does this all on it's own. No one has to tell it what to do, or how to act, what to say or how to turn a viewers attention to a specific detail. The ART has a voice, its aura, and it is able to reach different octaves to tune into your soul, and grab your attention; that is if you take the time to allow it in.

Film on the other hand, although an art within itself, does almost the exact opposite. Film hold your hand and whispers in your ear. It tells you what to look at and when, and even for how long. Film creates a set scenario from which you can only gain as much information as is given to you. Reading further into what something may or may not mean in film is different from a independent image, in that, there is dialogue, plot, scene changes, and characters with in a film. Again, thusly instructing the viewer, telling them, frame by frame, what is happening; using objects, language and scenarios most understandable to the audience viewing it.

Benjamin carefully investigated the relationship between the viewer and object and how that changed with the explosion of photography and film. In his inspection he uncovered the natural aesthetic achieved in viewing the original version of something. He noted that mechanical reproduction didn't carry over the originals "aura". He stated, "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." Here he is touching on the ritualistic effect of the placing, and there after viewing, of art wherever it was intended to go; a church, home, museum, street sidewalk or even a park. This is like seeing a picture of "Gates", by Christo and Jeanne-Claude; instead of having walked through them in Central Park. The aura is lost, the feeling one could have had was stolen away by a flat soundless bit of information known as a photograph.

Furthermore this ritualistic spirochete that had been attached to art for centuries, was single handedly being plucked from the nucleus it thrived off of. The act of going to view a piece of work had been summarized to flattened images in books and a multiplicity of reproductions, none of which could be denoted as the "original". In this Benjamin write, " for the first time in world, history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual." Like the statues in Greece, once though to hold magical powers, all artwork became readably available without journey or deliberation. With this lack of allure, all art was freed and ultimately became flat, ritualistically and other wise. The relationship between art, the churches, higher arching officials and the capitalist of the time, fell apart rather quickly and Modern Art was born.

Is it such that the cameras entrance into the world freed art from its former lifestyle, or is it possible the camera gave was to a new passage through fallow land? With the birthing of Modern, Post-Modern and Alter-Modern Art wouldn't one think it has given more than it has taken away? Notable we have lost arts intrinsic value, but gained free rein, or did we?

Today we live in a land where "far and wide" has become "near and close". Everything is merely a click away. From works of art to videos of your sisters new born baby, we have become accustom to a replica. With Youtube and picture texts, " Any man today can lay claim to being filmed," W. Benjamin. Unfortunately, now a days, that film can be altered to such a point that a video of you holding a baby kitten could be morphed into you killing that very same kitten. Proving the originality of this is becoming increasingly difficult and as Benjamin wrote, " The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses."

Take from this what you will, but be cautious with your five minute of fame. But remember this, originality stems from authenticity, which is only found within actual human interaction. Shift the paradigm again and help redefine the aura.