1. Walter Benjamin focuses much of his writing on the intrigue of the 'aura' a piece of art work provides sensually. He claims that art evokes a reaction and that people are attracted to art because of the aura-- which essentially is what is responsible for causing the reaction. Benjamin argues that once artwork has been copied, reproduced or has lost its 'originality' the 'aura' of the artwork vanishes. My first question is...
"If the aura of an art piece is lost after a photo, painting, drawing, or film has been reproduced, what is held responsible for the evoking the emotions, thoughts, and sensations that come from looking at these reproduced pieces of art. Is that still the 'aura' or are these emotions reactions to something else?"
2. My second question is based off of Benjamin's critique of acting and the differences in the skills varied between acting on a stage for a live audience versus acting for film. He claims that acting for film is less 'original' or authentic because it is recorded and often altered or edited by different mediums of technology. He believes the actor who acts live in front of an audience has a stronger 'aura' and is much more original than film. My question is...
"Do you agree that the two acting styles differ in a way that changes the originality or authenticity of the acting or just requires different skills?"
Haleigh,
ReplyDeleteGood questions in general. Feel free to speak up and ask your questions in class - these are quite interesting and thoughtful. Be careful as you have one or two typos in there as well.