Analysis Of The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction By Walter Benjamin

The established writer and philosopher, Walter Benjamin, introduces reproduction with a two sided argument based on authenticity. This founder theorist of the Frankfurt School has been able to create insight on how film can be used as a medium to touch upon the audience’s emotions, while shifting their experiences and perceptions in his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”.

It is evident that our world has entered a new age of reproduction, allowing many to believe that it is a positive phenomenon. However, Benjamin writes that one thing is lacking: the here and now of a piece of art, best described in the following — “The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity.” This era of reproducibility has allowed filmmakers to now create multiple versions of an object, yet we as consumers do not understand the implications this has caused in our society. Benjamin believes it has robbed the work of its unique existence in a particular place, taking away the ‘aura’ and experience entirely. The ‘aura’ of the original work of art is manipulated and many times even lost, allowing the reproduction of a new framework to occur.

By ‘aura’, Benjamin meant “A strange weave of space and time: the unique appearance or semblance of distance, no matter how close it may be… Uniqueness and duration are intimately intertwined in the latter as are transience and reproducibility in the former.” When considering the Grand Canyon, it could be said to have an aura based on its individuality and personality. This natural occurring phenomenon is the result of millions of years of erosion and formation of the earth’s surface. This occurrence creates an aura of allure and mystery as to how this could have happened over time. This wonder of the world owns its aura based on its ties to its surroundings. On the other hand, consider the painting of Da Vinci’s, Mona Lisa. This masterful painting manifests a certain type of beauty and aura as well that cannot be reproduced. Nowadays, we no longer have to experience art at hand with the new media’s driving force, we can just open our iPhone or computer and access the art there. We then must ask ourselves as consumers; what does this do for our society? If there is no great work of art we get to experience, the genuine passion and human emotions felt for the original work of art will no longer be present.

Benjamin then shifts onto the idea that art became about distraction not a tool of challenge. This has encouraged the audience to not think critically anymore, creating an examiner, but an absent-minded one. He specifically focuses on film and photography, using the loss of an aura to reproduce an image to create another reality. In this new age of mechanical reproduction, he demonstrates how consumers no longer have the autonomy to decipher the content on the screen. He presents the inverse shift of the content now evaluating the viewer. This directly impacts the propaganda used in film. Walt Disney’s, Magic Highway, U.S.A, creates insight on Benjamin’s idea of how we identify with the commodity. During this period, civilization had just experienced the end of the Cold War, and offered Disney the opportunity to take advantage of consumer innocence. The U.S. government recognized the unique situation to use Disney’s storytelling techniques to create a world of futuristic opportunities that would then influence and persuade consumer behavior.

Magic Highway, U.S.A, was one of the 32 short animated films created by Disney that allowed him to introduce his vision of futuristic automobiles to the public eye. In film, what we’re relating to is an industrial process, allowing the audience to mistake the height of industrial creation as reality. Benjamin believes that the camera gives the creator the opportunity to prevent the viewer from experiencing authentic emotions, but rather what the creator had originally planned for. While watching this film, we are not physically accountable for the outcome. We watch, we speculate, we react; however, we have no control as to what we see on the screen. The cameraman directs the audience’s eye to a specific place, at a specific time, distracting us from the surroundings. A few minutes into the film, the filmmaker already presents stills to provoke our emotions leading to increased aura. Walt Disney alludes to great lakes, mountains and even prairies to capture this shift of perception. The film goes from aerial shots looking over highways that cross over a lake, to a tracking shot allowing the audience to feel like they are physically in the car driving up the mountain. The key to these types of shots is the concept to direct attention to a specific scene. This allows the filmmaker to engage the viewer and allow their emotions to shift. Unfortunately, this dulls our perception towards the work itself, and destroys the authenticity of the scene.

As stated previously, the Grand Canyon generates an aura so powerful that when tourists visit, their perception and emotions based on their view in that time and place is so authentic. They are able to breathe in the fresh air, and physically stand on the edge of its towering cliffs. In the contrary, watching this film move through the mountains and the prairies, we do not generate the same emotion. We are experiencing these scenes from a movie theatre, or even in the comfort of our own home. Thus, the authenticity factor is destroyed as we cannot experience it personally.

As Benjamin states, “…bring things ‘closer’ spatially and humanly”, and to overcome “the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction,” he believes everything is the same in this new “age” of mechanical reproduction. Every film, every song, and every book are not created for authenticity, but to extend their own power to gain profit. As the film progresses, this theme is consistent and is evident through the timeline of automobiles. From the scene showing early road building techniques in the early 1900’s, to steam power, each of these scenes are fabricated perceptions relating to an industrial process. We as an audience do not get to experience the “drive on sheer ecstasy of driving on a short strip of smooth pavement.” We are only limited to these shots filmed by the filmmaker. For Benjamin, this film would be doing nothing more than presenting mechanically reproduced ideas, changing humanity’s perception on the other side of the lens.