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In Walter Benjamins paper on mechanical reproduction he describes

something known as the aura of original artwork. This aura he claims has
been lost, pillaged and raped with the advent of mechanical reproduction (film,
photography, printers, etc.).
For the aura of an artwork is linked to its authenticity, and its authenticity is
derived from its place in time and space, the place where it was created in
history. This aura is affected by the age of the artwork, and its personal
history, as is claimed in Walter Benjamins paper this includes the changes
which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the
various changes in its ownership (Benjamin 1969:50).
So as an artwork ages, its aura changes. The art gains a certain character
and history. Also as the painting is passed down from generation to
generation, owner-to-owner, its appreciation also changes, where the Mona
Lisa was kept in storage in the Louvre for near two centuries, but its
appreciation has changed since and is now one of the most (if not the most)
recognized and appreciated paintings in the art world. In this way this painting
had a rich aura, being unique, steeped in history and appreciated to varying
degrees by its different owners, however its aura is now tattered and
tarnished due to mechanical reproduction.
Now due to mechanical reproduction, we can have prints reproduced of our
favourite artworks. No longer does the art enthusiast need to travel half way
across the globe to appreciate their favourite artworks. Whilst this is good for
the enthusiast with a budget (tickets to France do not grow on trees, not to
mention the exchange rate), it has taken away from the journey, or pilgrimage
that the art enthusiasts of old had to make (similar to the pilgrimage made to
Mecca by those of the Muslim faith).
Now if our art enthusiast still decides to take the pilgrimage to the Louvre,
there is no real point as he has no doubt already seen his favourite painting
several times, on postcards, the internet, etc. Should the pilgrimage be
completed, the end result could be disastrous as the aura would be so

diminished that he would realise he had just wasted half his life chasing after
an image that looked better in a book than in person.
With the advent of film and photography, mechanical reproduction has moved
ahead at an alarming rate (since then printers have gone from dot matrix to
laser quality and photography has gotten so advanced that we can take
pictures of Mars). These changes have had their most significant impact on
the art world, no longer is it necessary to spend years training in painting
under an old master and then spending even more time doing a single
painting of some random woman with a quirky smile. Now all that needs to be
done is to focus your camera on to your subject and push the button. The
resulting photograph can then be printed, framed and placed on the
photographers nightstand. However, this process can go even further, the
image can be reproduced on anything, from t-shirts to coffee mugs, these can
then be sold at flea markets earning a pretty penny for the artist, good for
business, bad for the arts. This theory is at the heart of industrialization and
capitalism.
Not all of this has to do with simple, get rich quick schemes. Rather this has
allowed new, and exciting forms of art to be developed. Whilst the concept of
the old masters and studying as an apprentice under their baleful gaze has
been all but eradicated, new paths have been made.
Walter Gropius first conceived of this path in the early 1900s. He started the
Bauhaus in the early 20th century that stood almost alone in asking how the
modernisation process could be mastered by means of design. (Bauhaus
Dessau Foundation [sa]). It was his desire to bring the worlds of art and
production together, using the craft discipline as a medium for this. Its was this
attitude towards technology that helped to facilitate the creation of several
new art disciplines. Amongst them was film and photography. Due to their
extensive experimentation with cameras new effects were created, such as
the photomontage.

In Figure 1 an image is shown that was created by Oskar Schlemmer of the


Bauhaus. This image was made by using techniques that could only of been
possible thanks to mechanical reproduction. The image makes use of
photography (the figure holding the symbols), colour overlays and text print
placed in a collage style.
Due to photography this image can be produced easily and quickly. Rather
than spending hours trying to realistically draw and paint the character, all that
Oskar Schlemmer had to do was get the model to pose and take a snap shot
with his camera. Then the image could be developed, cut out and stuck to a
piece of paper. After all the collage elements have been put together, the
completed image could then be reproduced several times (thanks to printers)
and then distributed to advertise the tanz theater bhne (dance theatre
production is the closet translation I could derive).
So now due to mechanical reproduction we can create an advertisement in a
fraction of time it would of taken if are artist had to paint the entire image. Not
only that, but the production cost have also been cut as buying a spool of film
and having the image developed is less costly than buying a canvas, paints,
brushes, etc. The image is then reproduced as many times as necessary and
distributed, thus reaching a wider target.
All of this has opened up new worlds for the artist, as they no longer have to
produce works that only get exhibited in museums, but rather get to try their
hands at advertising, and design. This also means that the field would
become more competitive and that the artist could no longer live a solitary
existence but be forced to engage with the rest of the world.

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