Walter Benjamins work can apply to modern digital media as he discusses the rise of new technologies affecting the evolution of art throughout history eg. the advent of photography.
There was a time when “Art” was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for “art”?
I think the implications of this is that the physical side of creating “art” is now far less important than the creative side. For example, in the article Benjamin refers to how advent Photography…” freed the hand of the most important artistic functions which henceforth devolved only upon the eye looking into a lens”. Physical talent (eg a steady hand or years of practicing to play an instrument) are sidelined, and solely the creativity of the mind, and the limitations of the technology play a part in the creation of art.
In Walter Benjamin’s eyes, a photoshopped image lacks authenticity as he states:” The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated. This holds not only for the art work but also, for instance, for a landscape which passes in review before the spectator in a movie. In the case of the art object, a most sensitive nucleus – namely, its authenticity – is interfered with whereas no natural object is vulnerable on that score.” My understanding of this is that authenticity arises from a natural object in its natural environment and if this is copied and/or altered, its authenticity will be depreciated.
In Benjamin’s opinion, digital “things” are lacking in an “aura” as “ .. the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.” Digital things and reproduced things lack aura as the copies are not made within the context of the orignal therefore draining the entity of its “aura”.
