The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: Walter Benjamin

I found this article very interesting solely because I am taking a basic printmaking class this semester. 

The article discusses the reproduction of artworks and how it is effected by the advances in mechanical reproduction technology. In my class we have begun working on our woodcut prints. Before woodblock printing there were only a handful of items one could reproduce. 

“In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Manmade artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. The Greeks knew only two procedures of technically reproducing work of art: founding and stamping. Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins were the only art works which they could produce in quantity. All others were unique and could not be mechanically reproduced. With the woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before script became reproducible by print. The enormous changes which printing, the mechanical reproduction of writing, has brought about in literature are a familiar story. However, within the phenomenon which we are here examining from the perspective of world history, print is merely a special, though particularly important, case. During the Middle Ages engraving and etching were added to the woodcut” (Benjamin, 2)

Many artists use woodblock as their artistic process. In Japan this process is known as Ukiyo-e. 

Hara on the Tokaido, ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige

 Nowadays almost anyone can reproduce an image on their own, with no great struggle. Because the process allows the creator to make multiples easily the work can be sold. Many companies create T-shirts that are a mass production of one design.

 

Do you think that reproductions of the arts are acceptable?
Do you think reproduction take anything away from the original?