“To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced
becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic
negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for
the authentic print makes no sense."
The 20th Century philosopher Walter
Benjamin wrote in the 1935 essay The Work of Art in the Age of
Reproduction, “to ask for the ‘authentic’ print makes no sense”. As
described by Manovich's essay, the introduction of the
'Third Eye' as well as its collision the computer new vision for the future.
"Both media machines and computing machines are absolutely necessary for
functioning in the real world" and due to this view humans have used
computing devices and media machines in the forefront of their development. But
with these items, has authenticity been lost with the debut of fast
reproduction capabilities?
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| Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" |
So, the idea of authenticity becoming
redundant in digital media is questionable, as originality still exists as seen
in the contrast between this copy of the Mona Lisa and the originally,
sitting in true time and space. And while aura can be figuratively watered down
through mass production, and digital media design itself may not always emanate
reverence, that does not mean that the digital realm and mass manufacturing cannot
communicate and enhance aura. Even with millions of books with images of famous
paintings being printed, and billions of images of great artworks floating in
cyberspace, to stand in front of the actual Mona Lisa would be a completely
different experience, and with digital media such an experience may be more greatly
anticipated. The wide distribution gives the Mona Lisa a sense of omnipresence,
giving the experience of standing before the original, the origin of all the
reproductions, a great sense of aura.
Manovich, L. The Language of New Media. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England.
Mona Lisa take from -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg
