- Before we started our discussion of the reading we talked a bit about the "Mixed Body" Performance. Professor Drury explained that the reason she asked us to see this performance and will continue to suggest these kinds of performances in the future is that it helps to see some of this stuff we are talking about in action rather than just in readings or on a computer screen.
- We also discussed the group projects a bit. Professor Drury asked us to post our topics and group members on the blog. Also, she will make forums for each of us on the Blackboard discussion board for our course that we can use for group communication.
-We then started talking about todays article: "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin. We started this discussion by saying that it was very difficult to define the main points of this article and that much of it was somewhat contradictory. Is he saying that mass reproduction is a good thing?
- Check out Daniel Spears' post on the blog about this reading. He pasted a portion of the article into his post that he thought best summed up the article. We all agreed that this was a crucial section for understanding the main points of the article.
- The author talks about how we've lost the power of ritual that gave art works their "aura". In return mass reproduction has brought us greater accessibility and politics.
-How is it Political? It gives people people a voice in art that they did not have before. Art can now be taken to a new level of commentary. By combining things you can become a a new kind of author.
- Again is the author saying this shift is a good thing or bad thing? It is not really clear. He seems to believe that art has lost some of its power in this transformation. He is mourning the loss of what he calls the "aura" of artwork. We are now alienated from the process. Yet he seems to see the benefits of reaching a larger audience. This is where that contradiction comes in. Perhaps he himself is conflicted.
- We talked about how we need to navigate the good and the bad that comes with the mass reproduction culture we now live in. The tools of mass reproduction can be used for both empowerment and propaganda.
- A major point of this article is also "reception in a state of distraction".
- We extended our discussion into film in this new culture. We talked about how media, especially fim, conditions our senses. Like the way in which we see things. People tend to view themselves now as if they are in a movie. Film sets up certain visual expectations. The perception is given to the viewer. We tend to construct our experiences now in terms of film language.
- The "authentic experience" is changed by the mass media experience. Does this lead to a "watering down" of these experiences? Are we numbed by these experiences? We question wether we a present. Mass media creates more distance, like the distance we have from excessive violence we see on the screen, while at the same time it brings us all closer to the action than we normally could get.
- We each bring different life experiences to this viewing which changes our perception of it.
- We are left with the fact that "authenticity" is no longer a requirement of art. Politics are the replacement. Not politics as in government, but more that different ideologies are brought to art. Each person brings a different perspective.
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