In our society the value of an original work of art has gotten outrageous. Paintings done by Van Gough and Pollock are worth millions of dollars, and yet the reproductions of those pieces become cheap, affordable, and can be tailored to fit your needs. There are iPhone skins and backgrouds of "Starry Night" that cost mere dollars to own.
In Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", he states that "even the most perfect reproduction . . . is lacking one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be" (3).
In terms of paintings, such as the Pollock, one can test the authenticity of the artwork through chemical analysis. But besides knowing what type of paint was used why exactly does the original rake in so much revenue? It is perhaps the element Benjamin discusses, for those paintings were in Pollock's possession. His sweat and tears likely hit the canvas, but are those things worth the over 140 million dollars?
"The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being embedded in the fabric of tradition" (5). Works of art throughout history have been idolized and Benjamin proclaims that reproduction of art can free the art itself from the rituals and idolization. I on the other hand disagree with the idea, as reproduction of art makes the original that much more ideal. Although the art becomes reachable to the entire civilized world due to technology, there will always be individuals whose lives revolve around the creation and collection of original art works.
Benjamin touches on art that is made solely for reproducibility. The example of the "photographic negative" completely negates the idolization of authentic, original art (6). The negative itself is the original, however, it would be nonsensical to "ask for the 'authentic' print" (6). The more technical art becomes the less idolized it will be. As long as there is an artist creating art without the aid of technology, there will be ritual and tradition.
works cited:
Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. London.: Fontana., 1992. 96-102. Print.
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