In the age of mechanical reproduction, art

Author: Walter Benjamin [Germany]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: As the "last free intellectual in Europe," Walter Benjamin's delicate, sensitive, and vulnerable inner self was shaped by constant wandering. By 1940, just before his suicide at the age of 48, his footsteps had spanned the entire continent, making him one of the rare geniuses of the 20th century. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is Benjamin's most disruptive work. It discusses the new artistic forms—mechanical reproduction art—that the technological revolution has fostered in the modern era. Starting from the theory of art production, he analyzes the differences between classical and modern art from the perspective of manufacturing technology. Mechanical reproduction technology creates the "sense of the world as a totality," dissolving the distance and uniqueness of classical art. This leads to the disappearance of the "aura" of classical art—the loss of its aesthetic realm. In the age of mechanical reproduction, art no longer bases itself on ritual but is built upon politics. In this book, his surrealist and Jewish mystical style leaves a vast space for contemplation in the 20th century.