@JaredAbrahamWSU
This is a picture of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.This Wall is believed to have been constructed around twenty BC and has been a place that people from all over the world come to pray. Although this wall has been around for over two thousand years, it still continues to be a popular place of worship and tourism. Even though many things have taken place since the wall was first constructed, war, famine, etc. . . this has always been a place that the Israeli people can pray and reflect. It is amazing that as technology and culture continue to grow and are always morphing into something different, there are still some places that can be a window back in time.
In Walter Benjamin’s article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” he talks about the fact that the technology is stopping us from experiencing these moments in time. (3) It is this statement that I want to focus on. Benjamin says that “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space.” (3) While this can be true, how can you say that this photo of the Wailing Wall, which has been around for a long time, is lacking time and space? Can we say that something is lacking in time and space, if it is timeless and has never changed? Even though there can be a disconnect between someone and a photo of the Ayers Rock in Australia. I don’t see how a photo of something that has been going on for thousands of years can be lacking in time or space.