Philosophy : The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Benjamin Walter declares that there is a shift in perception and its affects in the wake of the advent of film and photography in the 20^th century. In the modern age, reproduction of art takes a very important role. Benjamin throughout the text demonstrates that the reproduction of the artwork loses its aura, which is the authenticity of an original art piece. The installation of Photography tries to persuade the opposite of Benjamin’s thesis by challenging the use of photography to capture and express the aura of The Burgher de Calais by Rodin in Westminster Park. When visiting the Statue, I perceived the aura as very mysterious, sinister and empowering. Benjamin emphasizes the importance of the space in which the art exists as a key contributor to it's aura. By presenting multiple photographs I was able to present the ambience of the environment accurately which helped to convey the aura of the statue in regards to its' surroundings.

 Photography was chosen, as it seemed like the best way to capture this aura; it is one of the media, which manages to provide an exact replica. In addition, the idea of having a fixed image allows the viewers to take their time to discover and appreciate all the elements of the picture. The six images each contain different angles of the statue, starting from far to very close. The viewer is therefore forced to move focus from one image to the other thus, creating a sense of movement towards the statue. This was intentionally made in order to coerce the viewer in experiencing the same feeling as if they were at the actual place. Five of the images surrounds a single picture which is larger in size as it portraits perfectly the moment: the child running around the dark and chaotic statue, the gothic building and the dead trees; yet he is staring right at the camera making the picture look quite haunting.

This artwork shows that the aura of a piece of work can be reproduced through the use of photography. However it has a certain limitation as it can only provide the aura of that exact time when the picture was taken whereas the original artwork can provide a range of different auras according to the change of the environment. Meaning that the original piece of art provides more then a photograph can possibly provide. However, with the easy access of images, the photograph then takes a part in the change of its aura as it makes the statue more known hence the change of environment.