Reading:
• The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
• Extracts from Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
Please post a short (two – three paragraph) synopsis of the readings on the class blog (select "comments" and post in the space provided). In addition to each text synopsis you are to provide a brief autobiographical summation of the author.
Bring to class quotes and selected visual representations in conjunction with the readings. Note: Select images of personal value (subject matter) not directly addressed in the readings
The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
ReplyDeleteNotes on Walter Benjamin:
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German Jewish literary critic and considered himself a “man of letters” instead of adopting the title of philosopher. He was also a translator and a freelance writer for journals and magazines with left-wing ideologies. In the 1930’s he made influential contributions to Marxism. His emphasis on Marx and Judaic notions of Messianic time is evident in “Goethe’s Elective Affinities.” Other areas of interest for Benjamin include: History, Modernity, and the rise of mass culture with the relation between art and technology.
Resource: http://www.egs.edu/library/walter-benjamin/biography/
Summary:
“The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction” written in 1936 is Benjamin’s most influential essay. He discusses how technical reproduction is changing the effect of artworks on the public and has become a legitimate artistic process. Reproduction has always been possible as Benjamin puts it: “Man-made artifacts could always be imitated by men;” however the invention of woodcut in the eighteen century followed by lithography, and photography in the nineteen century was a complete game changer. Photography is faster than hand drawing for pictorial representation and is used to reproduce hand-made artworks. This type of reproduction allows the artwork to be known by a greater audience to which the “original” might be inaccessible. According to Benjamin, the uniqueness of the work of art determines its history; and mechanical reproduction affects the authority of the “original.” The “aura of the work of art” is diminished by such reproduction. He defines the concept of aura as distance. Mechanical reproduction brings the artworks closer to the masses and thus undermines the value in the uniqueness of the original piece. Benjamin links the uniqueness of the artwork to tradition, which he admits is changeable. Before the age of mechanical reproduction the artwork in its uniqueness had a ritualistic function. According to Benjamin because of reproduction the art is no longer based on rituals but instead taps into politics.
Roland Barthes
ReplyDeleteExtracts From Camera Lucida
Edited by Liz Wells in The Photography Reader
Notes on Roland Barthes:
Roland Barthes (1915-1980) was a French linguist, literary theorist, critic, philosopher, structuralist, and semiotician. He was influenced by Swiss linguist Ferdinand De Saussure’s study of signs and signification. He suffered from tuberculosis, around 1934 - 1935 and 1942 - 1946, but still managed to teach and write. His work includes semiotic theories and literary critiques and focuses on the text, music, love, and photography. He was also interested in popular media and often provoked the French bourgeoisie. He had a close relationship with his mother. His last book “Camera Lucida,” in which he discussed photography, was written after her death and illustrates their relationship.
Source: http://www.egs.edu/library/roland-barthes/biography/
Summary:
Roland Barthes took an interest in Photography and was looking to define its essence beyond the technical aspect. Its classification is usually involves aesthetic, empirical, or rhetorical attributes. Since those terms can be applied to other forms of representation, Barthes finds this medium unclassifiable. The photograph is by nature tautological and cannot be dissociated from its subject. It continuously repeats something that happened at one point in time.
According to Barthes, when looking at a photograph, we only see what it depicts therefore the photograph is invisible. He observed that the photograph can be the object of three practices: to do, to undergo, and to look. His experience with photography was mainly as a photographed subject. He explains that when he was observed by the lens he would lend himself to the social game of posing, and attempt to have the image match his true self. The result is often the opposite because, with Photography, he is bound to always have an expression and his “body will never find its zero degree,” something that he could have been given only by his mother. He also adds: “In front of the lens, I am at the same time: the one I think I am, the one I want others to think I am, the one the photographer thinks I am, and the one he makes use of to exhibit his art.” The need to perform for the camera gave him a feeling of inauthenticity.