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Walter Benjamin The Girandola

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Walter Benjamin The Girandola
Assignment 1
Walter Benjamin in context to ‘The Girandola’ by Joseph Wright
In this essay I will be applying Benjamin’s essay ‘Art in the age of mechanical reproduction’ to examin the erosion of aura around an artwork, aura can be defined from colours within the painting right down to the smell that surrounds the painting. The artwork that I will be focusing on will be ‘The Girandola’ that was created by Joseph Wright (of Derby) in 1734-1797. This comparison will be done by using my experience of seeing the origial in the Walker art gallery compared to looking at the reproduction of it.
I
My first point that I will discuss is Importance/Travelling. Travelling to see artwork was once a big deal as some people traveled miles on end to see the artwork because it was a time before the inernet. They all went to the art gallery so they could …show more content…
He also states that authenticity cannot be reproduced, and the authenticity of the original even disappears when everything is reproduced as there is no such thing as a unique piece if it is possible for everyone to have one.
III
My final point on erosion of aura is Uniqueness. Uniqueness is basically a one of a kind or a limited amount of something, if you will. Something not many can have. However reproduction has managed to make this unique piece available to everyone thus not making this piece unique it also refuses the original piece from being unique as there is more than one copy of itself.
Creating reproducible realities basically destroys the uniqueness of an original because it is no longer unique. Benjamin tells us this by saying:

The technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique
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