walter benjamin on - soma.sbcc.edu · walter benjamin on snapchat. this presentation is a thought...
TRANSCRIPT
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Return of the aura ???a final presentation by sharada tolton
WALTER BENJAMIN ONSNAPCHAT
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This presentation is a THOUGHT EXPERIMENT:
Does Walter Benjamin’s theory of art and mechanical reproduction apply to the
digital age? Is the “aura” fully absent in digital art?
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Benjamin defines an artwork’s “aura” as its "embeddedness...in the context of tradition" (Benjamin, Part V).
The aura of a work of art is the material residue of the historical circumstances of its creation (III).
_ _/) (\__ ,-'~~( _ )~~`-. / \/'_`\/ \| /_(_)_\ || _(/(\_/)\)_ || / // \ / \\ \ | \ | `` / \ '' | / \ ) / \ ( / )/ / \ \ ( ' `-`-'-' `
__/) (\__ ,-'~~( _ )~~`-.
/ \/'_`\/ \| /_(_)_\ || _(/(\_/)\)_ || / // \ / \\ \ | \ | `` / \ '' | / \ ) / \ ( / )/ / \ \( ' `-`-'-' `
first: WHAT IS “AURA”?
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The artwork holds ritual value
because of its uniqueness “here and now” (III).
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second: HOW DOES MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION SUPPRESS THE AURA?
Precisely by taking away the here-and-now-ness of the work of art. Mass produced art doesn’t contain the historicity of its original making.
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Benjamin’s case study: FILM
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Benjamin argues that IN FILM:➔ Reproducibility replaces cult value with
exhibition value (IX)
➔ Subject to intervention by a group of experts, the actor’s performance is more
test-like than ritualistic (X)
➔ The editing process strips away ritual “single stroke” value (VII)
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Now that we’ve reviewed the basics, it’s time for the
thought experiment: ) ) ) ( )( ( (( ) )`)(, .__. | | | | | _|
__|(]_ ) / __[)| _
/ ( | (]_ ) / )|(]_ _) / ___|(] _)
/ | | ejm / \__/
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Digital-reproduced video on social media is a recent evolution of photo and film, but does it lack “aura” like the earlier forms?
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criterion 1 “now-ness”
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With “disappearing” media, Snapchat and Instagram simulate the fleeting immediacy of perceiving a handmade artwork:
our experience of the video or photo comes to exist in a
unique moment in time_
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This effect only intensifies with LIVE STORY on Instagram
o OO=| |-YY_____________/\_/|____:F_P:
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For which I receive a notification saying, “@lauren_artgirl started a Live Video, catch it before it ends”
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The app’s authors remind me of the fleeting now-ness of the video_
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criterion 2
“here-ness”
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On social media,
network imitates
uniqueness of place
o OO=| |-YY_____________/\_/|____:F_P:
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Some accounts are private,signalling exclusivity,
while others are barely followed, signalling
obscurity_
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and columns of
comments show the historical residues ofviewer reactions
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So is social media really NETWORKING and LIVE STREAMING aura????
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Does a disappearing image or live video successfully
simulate the “strange tissue of space and time”? (IX) _
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To resolve the question, I turn to
exhibition value
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Despite these feints at cult value and uniqueness, social media is powerful expressly because of its potentially massive, simultaneous audience
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The exhibition value of this massive audience is
returned in brand sponsorship and in
some cases, organized political action
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Benjamin would say it is up to us whose political agendas are advanced by this media
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If it’s in our hands, let’s tip Instagram and Snapchat in favor of the people, let’s follow the corners of these social networks where otherwise voiceless people are given voice.
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Sources:Benjamin, W. (2002). “The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility.”In H. Eiland &
M. W. Jennings (Eds.), Selected Writings, Volume 3, 1935–1938 (pp. 101–133). (Translated by E.Jephcott, H. Eiland, and Others). Cambridge: Harvard University Press