DTC 101 – Spring 2013

@cougar_sean

As much as I would like to agree with Walter Benjamin in his discussion of an “aura”, I find myself wholeheartedly disagreeing with his expressive description of photography and how it destroys the image of art as it can be so easily reproduced. He says the same about films: “The painting invites the spectator to contemplation; before it the spectator can abandon himself to his associations. Before the movie frame he cannot do so. No sooner has his eye grasped a scene than it is already changed.” But he is missing the fact that each frame in a movie is a work of art. The emotions and experiences captured within the duration of a film would fill the walls of an art museum and then some.

The image I uploaded (above) is a photograph of a photograph yes, but it still holds all the same emotions and activities as when it was first taken. Four men take a break from work constructing the façade around this old Parisian building and glance up to see the Google truck zoom by on this ancient cobblestone road. Benjamin would argue that this is the work of a magician who “maintains the natural distance between the patient and himself.” But I see just the opposite. I see the work of a surgeon. This photo was taken long ago and I found it using digital means simply sitting at my computer searching. I found this and brought it to light. This has life. This is life.

@clonelord #dtcv

These pictures were taken from the Frankfurt, Germany area as I thought they were unusual. Walter Benjamin states “Man-made artifacts could always be imitated by men.” (The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction section, 1 paragraph 1). I don’t in this statement as most people will see graffiti but I see someone who is trying to express their artistic side and that someone else could try really hard to replicate the drawing but it is nearly impossible. The reason I believe that is that each person’s drawings or doodles is an artistic expression that nobody else can copy no matter how hard you try, yeah you make think you have copied it but you didn’t as you don’t know the persons mental state or emotions behind the drawing when it was done. That is why I believe every piece of art is unique in its own way. Walter Benjamin goes on to say “The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public.” (The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction section 12, paragraph 1). Isn’t this the truth when it comes to people or even the public thinking they can criticize someone’s work of art just because they “know” more than another person but no two people’s experience is ever the same and even though they are going through the same situation. I chose the second picture as I thought to be very unique to be putting road signs in the bush, it gave it character and life that is how I see it.