Walter Benjamin and The Quality of Art

Walter Benjamin reflects upon the quality of art in The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. What’s considered to be art has gradually become of less importance and that ‘quality has been transmuted into quantity’ (media and cultural studies keyworks: 28). He writes that there’s been a ‘liquidation of the traditional value of cultural heritage’(media and cultural studies keyworks: 21), and uses the reproduction of Shakespeare’s plays to film, as an example. He also mentions that, because the media has become so accessible, almost anyone can contribute to it, and that lessens the value of ‘art’ within it. Walter Benjamin makes a distinction between how art has a function to either be admired (containing it’s aura) and send a message or to be exhibited and sold; ‘works of art are received and valued on two different planes… the accent is on cult value, with the other, on the exhibition value of the work’(media and cultural studies keyworks: 23). Benjamin speaks of an ‘aura’ that art has, and as art becomes less, as he calls it, ‘mystifying’, and slightly more ordinary, it loses its essence as art.

He also references Aldous Huxley’s statement that, ‘advances in technology have led… to vulgarity… Rotary press have made it possible the indefinite multiplication on writing and pictures… Now artistic talent is a rare phenomenon’ (media and cultural studies keyworks: 38). This brings me back to Benjamin’s point of quality, he writes ‘Literary license is now founded on polytechnic rather than specialized training’ (media and cultural studies keyworks: 28).  Many are trying to get something out of the media, and publish what they can to get noticed. Individual thought leads me to consider if this is true; the internet would be the biggest supporter of this idea, though writing a blog would not be considered art, there must be a lot of pointless information, even within the media, floating around.