Need help explaining how audiences respond to images as well as the impact that

Question

Need help explaining how audiences respond to images as well as the impact that new technology can have on how we see, process, and think about images. Both the Benjamin and Gunning readings suggest that audiences must learn different ways of seeing depending on the medium through which they are viewing an image. Using Benjamin and/or Gunning readings, describe how technological context in which an image is displayed matters.

Readings:

Walter Benjamin, Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Tom Gunning, An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)Credulous Spectator:

Stuart Hall, Encoding/Decoding:

far more slowly than that of the substructure, has taken more than half a century to manifest in all areas of culture the change in the conditions of production, Onlv today can it be indicated what form this hastaken Certain prognostic requirements should be met by these statements. However, theses about the art of the proletariat after its assumption of power or about the art of a classless society would have less bearing on Our fine arts were developed, their bpes and uses were established, in times very these demands than theses about the developmental tendencies of art different from the present, by men whose power of action npon things was insignificantunder presen conditions of production. Their dialectic is no less n comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptabilitynoticeable in the superstructure than in the economy. It would therefore and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits thgy are ceating, make it abe wrong to underestimate the value of such theses as a weapon. They certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beantiful In brush aside a number of outmoded concepts, such as creativity and genus, eternal value and mystery -concepts whose uncontrolled (and at tused to be, which cannot remain umaffected by our modern knwledge and pouer. Foree almost uncontrollable) application would lead to a processing of the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time bas been what it was from timedathe Fascist sense. The concepts which are introduced into the mmemorial We must exspedt great innorations to transform the entire technique of thetheory of art in what follows differ from the more familiar terms in that arts, therehy affecting artistic imention iself and perbaps ging about anthey are completely useless for the purposes of Fascism. They are, on the other hand, useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Written in 1936. From Walter Bemin, luminations, 1968, edited by Hannah Arendr. al the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as amazing change in our very notion of art." -Paul Valéry, PIECES SUR L 'ART "La Conquète de l'ubiquité," Paris. politics of art. In principle a work of art has always bcen reproducible. Manmade artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by PREFACE When Marx undertook his critique of the capitalistic mode of production, this mode was in its infancy. Marx directed his efforts in such a way as to give them prognostic value. He went back to the basic conditions underlying capitalistic production and through his presentation showed what could be expected of capitalism in the future. The result was that one could expect it not only to exploit the proletariat with increasing intensity, but ultimately to create conditions which would make it possible ird parties in the pursuit of gain. Mechanical reproduction of a work o art, however, represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensit The Greeks knew only two procedures of technically reproducing works of art: founding and stamping. Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins were the only art works which they could produce in quantity. All others were unique and could not be mechanically reproduced woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before script became reproducible by print. Thoe enormous changeswhich printing to abolish capitalism itself. With the e transformation of the superstructure, which takes place themechanical Quoted from Paul Valery, Aestetics, "The Conquest of Ubiquity," translated by Ralph Manheim, p. 225. Panthcon Books, Bollingen Scries, New York, 1964. 217 218

Explanation / Answer

Walter Benjamin wrote ‘The work of art in the age of technological reproducibility’ during the years if his exile in France. Benjamin was deeply affected by the extremely politically tumultuous situation in France. Therefore, he used his Art and creativity to express himself as an instrument. In his writings he speaks of the ill effects of capitalism also brought about by Karl Marx and how it could cause devastating effects on the well-being of the society at large. He admits that the work of art has always been reproducible however the technological representation of this has been something unique and different. First key element that he identifies in this has been photography and its profound impact on the credibility of sources in terms of depicting the true work of art in its entirety. The second is the process of technological reproduction itself as a work of art such as the art of film-making. What is otherwise not accessible to humans per se are made possible through this mechanism, however, it often counter fires through confidentiality and loyalty issues at hand. Lifespan of actual work therefore gets compromised since the fake copies gain attention and access more easily than ever. For Benjamin, the most striking feature of a film is not that it replicates everyday life, but that the actor has to perform in front of a mechanical apparatus. The actor’s performance in the studio is captured by the mechanical apparatus and is replicated across multiple screens.

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