I agree with preceeding posts that a main problem with Benjamin’s essay is his use of "aura." I’m sure I know what he means by it, but I’m not sure how he feels about it. Is he lamenting the loss of authenticity in art, is he celebratory of the new aesthetic possibilities of film, or is he simply dreading the future of art in the hands of the masses? At times it seems that he is valuing one "high" (painting) art form over a "lower" (hollywood film) one, which, if he is, must be an unforseen mistake on his part. Capitalsim transformed the work of art into a commodity produced for the market, consumable by an uncritical mass, but the economic system has also had a hand in producing a great number of powerful forms of art in the 20th C. Concluding that Marlon Brando acted with no aura or arguing (as Adorno tried to do) that Charlie Parker played only repetitive snippets from popular songs would get you fired as an art critic today. So there seems to be an unbearable outdatedness to Benjamin, but im not so sure.
furthermore, there seems to be a struggle in "the work of art" on who owns culture: art critics, politicians, or the "masses," who are never defined by Benjamin. The article, although steeped in the history of art, has an urgent practical purpose in rescuing the work of art from the Nazis, and I’m wondering if that’s all we can say: Western art in the beginning served the magical and now serves the political. This "essence," "authenticity," "tradition," and "unique existence" of an artwork of old is in opposition to the modernday artwork as "image" or "spectacle." If anything, this binary opposition shouldn’t highlight a social and economic transformation as much as it should reveal how fragile these "aura" terms are. The meaning and beauty around any artwork throughout history is culturally constructed, and I think Benjamin says this. So what’s the real deal? Besides photography and film supplanting painting and theater as the new priviliged art forms, what has happened? Would the Nazis have been able to take control if photography and film hadn’t existed? I feel like I’m missing the point and i’m looking forward to tomorrow’s class discussion so that people can fill me in.