Assignment 6: Modern Vision

Unauthentic.

Authentic.

Walter Benjamin, a philosopher of the early 20^th Century, wrote in 1935 essay The Work of Art in the Age of Reproduction “to ask for the ‘authentic’ print makes no sense”, essentially because modern technology such as photography and film revolutionised the way images were seen. A major part of this was the power of distribution had become much more accessible.

 Although Benjamin suggests that the authenticity of art has been usurped by mass production, I believe that the authentic still exists even in this age of digital design and manufacturing. Rapid sharing of images has also resulted in design being freely edited. In photography the authentic print is the version that the artist intended the negative film to produce. In digital media the versions of design that has not been edited by others, or “remixed”, can be considered authentic.

 Yet this authenticity may be so accessible that design becomes free, unexclusive. The internet allows us to directly access the design portfolios of contemporary designers. While this may mean design can be given less exclusivity and aura of canonisation, the possibility of global connection due to this age of digital media means that there can be a wider appreciation of not just manufactured designs, and the concept of aura can be questioned on an individuated basis, as each person has their own subjective experience of the design, instead of design being canonised by word-of-mouth with few people actually experiencing it for themselves, which gives a sense of mystery and aura.

 So, the idea of authenticity becoming redundant in digital media is questionable, as originality still exists as seen in the contrast between these digital images above – the one on the left being authentic, the other edited. 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.

Resources:

Gustafson M., Eric (2006): Ft. Myers. Retrieved 08/09/2011 from http://antilimit.com/nature/27