Work Of Art In The Age Of Its Technological Reproduction Summary

Walter Benjamin covers several topics in his essay "The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproduction", but the two that resonated the most with me were his discussion on the loss of aura in modern art and of the politicization of art. Benjamin believes that art that is produced and/or replicated by mechanical means has lost its aura, the originality and authenticity of the work of art. I agree that the mass production of art causes it to lose is originality but I don't believe it affects its authenticity. My interpretation of aura is a work of art's "specialness", an almost magical quality of the piece. If a work of art is mass produced than the artist loses control over how that work of art is perceived, it's no longer his, it now belongs to everyone and everyone is
However, this does cause the piece to lose its aura. I don't believe that mechanical intervention causes a work of art to lose its authenticity though; authenticity comes from the artist, not from how the art is produced. In the epilogue of this essay, Benjamin discusses how fascism adopted the aesthetic movement for its own purposes. The masses wanted social change and what fascism gave them was the (supposed) right to self-expression. Fascism wanted to encourage the idea of "art for art's sake" and bring aura into politics. Communism, on the other hand, wanted to politicize art, to demystify its production and have it benefit the masses. Benjamin believed there were two competing sides, the fascist aestheticization of politics and the communist politicization of art. The use of art and media in politics is an issue that is still relevant today. For the most part art has been politicized. There is no mystery, no aura in the production of art and it is often used to benefit the masses. Whether or not that art is actually benefiting the masses is a matter of