Brief Discussion on the Disappearance of the Aura of Art Works in Current Era

LIU Si-ru

With the development of modern technology， the art’s own production methods meet a continuous transformation， which causes a boom in the aesthetic economy at the same time. At present， artworks are displayed in multiple media， but it is a disappearance of Aura for artworks. For viewers， it is a disappearance of their initiative and imagination space. From the point of view of aesthetic experience， it is a disappearance of commonality and sympathy. These disappearances bring a deeper problem that is the disappearance of the subjects of the artworks.

Keywords： Walter Benjamin， Aura， artwork

Introduction

Walter Benjamin creatively used the word Aura to describe the aesthetic characteristics of traditional art. It is closely related to the uniqueness， authenticity， sacredness， worship value， and sense of distance of artistic works. “Even in the most perfect reproduction of art， there will be a lack of an ingredient； the immediacy of the artwork， that is， the uniqueness of the place where it was born. The immediacy and immediacy of the original constitute its authenticity” （Benjamin & Zohn， 2018， p. 7）. For example， no matter the sculpture audience of Vénus de Milo and Laoco？n and His Sons， or fans of famous paintings in the Renaissance period： Mona Lisa and The Last Supper， they can only understand the charm from the original work in a specific time and space. In his book： The Art Work of the Machine Replication， Benjamin analyzed the changes that technological advancement has brought to the production and existence of works of art. As a direct consequence， works of art were copied and spread without restriction， which was led to the disappearance of the Aura of the original work， and originality and uniqueness of artworks were destroyed. This is fundamentally different from the traditional existence way of art. As John Berger said in Ways of Seeing， “The uniqueness of each painting used to be part of the uniqueness of its location. Sometimes paintings can be moved， but they can never be viewed in two places at the same time” （Berger， 1990）. But the reality is artworks that were originally shelved in collectors or art galleries have been transmitted to the space that our daily life can touch， not only in two places but even in any places we can know. This phenomenon undoubtedly reduced the uniqueness and authenticity of the original artworks. Under the influence of the advanced manufacturing industry and the Internet in modern society， works of art can easily be copied and disseminated on a large scale， making them unable to reach their original status and realm like they used to be. Now we can see masterpieces in home decoration very commonly. For example， in a normal picture album， we can easily find the sublime and elegant ancient Greek sculptures and the classical paintings famous overseas. Certainly， this is a new way of appreciating works of art and the works of art which can only been seen in the past under specific time and space have become common for the audience. As the result， the beauty of the original Aura disappears， and the uniqueness and authenticity also disappear.

Works of art are spread in a variety of media， meanwhile， accompanied by changes in artistic value. The value of artworks have changed from worship value to display value， which means the disappearance of the sacred meaning and its own Aura of artworks. Worship value and display value are two concepts put forward by Benjamin in Works of Art in the Age of Mechanical Copy， he argued that： “Art history can be described as a bipolar movement in the work of art itself， and its evolutionary history can be regarded as an interactive emphasis on one pole of the artwork and shifting the emphasis on the other pole， these two poles are worship and display value for artworks” （Benjamin & Zohn， 2018， p. 19）. Benjamin has already seen the full display of its changes in “Works of Art in the Age of Mechanical Copy”.

The artworks are displayed in a variety of media so that the original works can directly reach our vision. Art can be conveyed through paper media， phonographs， films， installation art， and other methods to penetrate into the lives that the public can most often touch， and increase our ways of perceiving a certain kind of art. This has changed the traditional way of concentrating and receiving art and replaced it with a recreational way. The traditional way of receiving makes people to appreciate the series of works of art with pilgrim attitude.“Presence” which means that people have to go where the artwork exists or occurs becomes the prerequisite for appreciation. For visual arts， viewers must be in the place of art collection； for performing arts such as music， the audience need to be there by themselves. This requirement itself is the sanctification of art and the requirement of humility for the viewer to lean over.

In the age of mechanical copying， people can see copies of art masterpieces everywhere， and they are infinitely close to those snackable content with a playful mentality while relaxing and entertaining， for example， photographs attached to the wall， illustrations in books， moving pictures in movies， and courseware pictures on multimedia projectors. We can enjoy classical paintings in the bedroom， classical music in the coffee shop. In the era full of mechanical reproduction technology， making artworks closer to people and making them easier to spread satisfies the strong desire of the public to be spiritually nurtured by art. Therefore， with mechanical reproduction technology， along with the ways of displaying artworks in a variety of media， viewers lack the traditional sense of worship in front of the original works. The inaccessibility of artworks and the need to have a certain aesthetic distance are the basic elements of traditional artworks which make artworks worshipped idols. That is the reason why classic art keeps viewers at a distance. It is precisely this characteristic of classical art that evokes our concentrating aesthetic style， and also enables us to project more emotions on it.

Conclusion

Nowadays， the recreational appreciates way for “snackable content”， the abusing of mechanical reproduction and multi-media technology have made the uniqueness， authenticity， and sacredness of traditional artworks gradually lose， the aesthetic value of artworks change from worship value to display value， the viewer’s sense of aesthetic distance be shorted， and the “aura” attached to the traditional classic art disappear.

References

Benjamin， W.， Zohn， H. （2018）. The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Adansonia Press.

Berger， J. （1990）. Ways of seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books.

Jaros， M. （2007）. Towards re-definition of space-ness in the post-mechanical age： Methodological notes. Landscape and Urban Planning， 83（1）.

Peddie， I. （2006）. The resisting muse： Popular music and social protest. Burlington： Ashgate Publishing Company.

Rippl， G. （2015）. Handbook of intermediality. Berlin & Boston： Walter de Gruyter.