文化研究论文 The Politics Of The Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of something to be accurately reproduced or replicated by another individual working independently. It relates to the agreement of the results with different operators using different tools at a different location. The results are always reported as a standard deviation from the original plan. In Benjamin works of art, reproducibility is a process that occurs slowly and may take a long time. Benjamin discusses the reproducibility in the works of art and the entire world of photography and film. It is all about the modern age and its effects on the work of arts. How art has been changed by the perception of the humans through time. Reproducibility changes the original piece of art through the change of the originality or aura of the artistic image, the real message put across and the cult value of the original art. The reproduction of pieces of art causes a total change in the perception of the art and can send a total different meaning to the observer. Reproducibility is an inevitable process that takes place over time and it serves to bring a lot of change in the meaning of art. It overshadows the concepts of originality and creativity of art. It can therefore be said that reproducibility is one big enemy to the world of art and the divine talent requirement to be artistic.
A look at the photography of today, there is so much reproducibility of photographs of various places and features that the real image or the original item cannot be defined. It is not easy to tell anymore if the items in photographs are really as represented. Photography can be said to leave out a lot of details of the original thing. For example details such as the distance, vegetation and the color are completely distorted. With the advances in technology photographs can be used to represent an image of a certain thing just like in a painting. This also leaves out a lot the originality of the image displayed. For example the photographs of the mountain like the Alps remove the concept of space and time.
According to (Blunden ii), even the most perfect pieces of art that are reproduced are lacking in the element of space and time. The technology of the modern times in photography renders the work of art impure. While some pictures will want to portray the mountains to have peaks that are slightly steep and have very green vegetation others show complete different imagery of steep peeks and no vegetation. This technology of photography renders the works of art impure and changes the original forms of the art. Photography can be said to make the work of art loose the aura or the authenticity through the mechanical production. While the photograph of the mountain will be representing an image of another image, a painting will be the original mountain.
Paintings would capture the concentration and contemplation of the viewer unlike photography. The paintings would be fascinating and inviting to the observer. The cult value that would have been in a painting is replaced by the exhibition value in photography. The cult value does not disappear suddenly but in a shadowy manner. The cult value is still represented in photography but in a far distant manner because just like the portraits, photography is also meant as storage of memories. Photography as a replacement of painting brings out a distant political significance through the creation of memories. The images of photography also bring out a very different side of the original. The photographs are meant to capture what the original person and the photographer want to portray to the viewer; therefore the original thing is not what the viewer sees but the viewer is subjected to a totally different concept.