09.11.2017
- Benjamin, (p. 242 in my copy) “The destructiveness of war furnishes proof that society has not been mature enough to incorporate technology as its organ, that technology has not been sufficiently developed to cope with the elemental forces of society.” Is the ultimate goal of technology to enable and engender a constant state of war? By what means can we mature as a species to allow these tools to truly become beneficial and not an agent of change through conflict? Does this require a non-technological intervention, or is it through conflict that we can overcome this state of affairs?
- Macluhan posits that there’s no difference between a children’s show and a war movie as far as the medium of its delivery is concerned. If either one is watched on TV, each will be the same. However, this completely takes the consumer of media out of the equation. It assumes we are passive vessels with no agency when consuming media. As this was written long before the advent of constant interaction between producers and consumers, it seems like a naive and early understanding of our relationship with media.
- One of the side effects of the mechanical reproduction of art is the democratization and recontextualization of the work. A representation of a painting could now be seen next to an ad for a car, or in one’s home, not the halls of wealthy collectors. In doing so, it allows for new interpretations and understanding of the work. With the advent of electronic reproduction through computers, it is possible to reposition any form of media with another, all of it mediated though screens and reproductions. With this new creation, is it possible to think that a new ‘aura’ is created, a new ritual of collage that infuses these representations with a life well beyond what electronic reproduction can produce?
