Category: Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Cat Links 2021 Blog, Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

[READING RESPONSE] WALTER BENJAMIN

Posted on angelwly

Benjamin discusses the relationship between mass production and humanity in his essay. He strongly opposes modernisation, pointing out that the loss of authenticity due to mechanical reproduction of art deprives the artwork of its “aura”. This devalues the humane side of the man and the indifference in reproduced artwork would eventually lead to war. However, I could only partially agree with him. It is undoubtedly that the reproduction would threaten the uniqueness of artwork in terms of time and space. People perceive the artwork differently from the artist himself when the artwork is presented in various way. Inevitably, people’s mode

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE] WALTER BENJAMIN

Cat Links 2021 Blog, Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

[Reading Response] Walter Benjamin

Posted on chungwsc

The excerpt discusses the implications of technology as a tool in producing (or, reproducing) art, and explores how this may alter, even damage the aura and authenticity of art arguing how advancements in technology (namely film) lead to a decay in artistic value. Interestingly, aura is described very similarly to the living language: it can be communicated, it is dependant on culture, context; it is changeable. Does this not mean that technology can become part of the scope of aura, as it evolves over time? Perhaps what worries Benjamin, is not only the influx of machines and technology, but that society is not

Continue reading[Reading Response] Walter Benjamin

Cat Links 2021 Blog, Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City, Uncategorized

Reading Response: Walter Benjamin

Posted on Matsumoto Ami

The fundamental concept discussed in Benjamin’s essay is the concerns on mass production of arts and elaborate his understanding toward artworks with the key terms “authenticity” and “aura”. I personally agree that technological reproduction not only changed how art is developed and created but also modified the definition of what art was. Although back in the time ancient people could produce replicas of bronzes, terra cottas and coins, nowadays the advance technology like photography, film and lithography significantly shorten the time is needed to reproduce a work which may lead to lack of uniqueness and value of an artwork. Besides

Continue readingReading Response: Walter Benjamin

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Reading Response: Walter Benjamin

Posted on chan0716

As a Marxist, Benjamin’s concern and grief towards economic, social-political, and technological change in modern society is quite obvious in the article. By indicating that the tradition and rituals on which the “aura” used to based have been challenged by technological reproductivity, he considered that the authenticity of art now might find its bases on politics, about which I have some personal comprehension. The relationship between art and politics has been debated throughout history, while many relatively “unreproducible” installations and participatory works successfully demonstrate the notion of identification, like the 1993 Whitney Biennale. Nevertheless, in contemporary art, the works of

Continue readingReading Response: Walter Benjamin

Cat Links 2021 Blog, Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

Posted on u3582508

After reading “Leaving the Movie Theater” by Roland Barthes, I was impressed by the way how Barthes described the film-watching experience in a cinema as hypnosis. I usually watch movies on my phone but whenever I want to get relief from daily life, cinema is certainly the best place for me because of the irreplaceable “darkness” in a cinema, significant aroma of pop-corn, bright light beam projected on a big screen, moving images and sound truly distract me from the reality. Fascinated by the film image and its narrative, I always stare at the screen and know nothing about my

Continue readingReading Response: Roland Barthes

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

[READING RESPONSE]: WALTER BENJAMIN

Posted on lesley02

I like the word ‘aura’ that used by Benjamin, which generally means an artistic tissue of the unique distance between identity and art. Benjamin wrote critically in his article and he is biased to the negative side brought by technological reproducibility. He said ‘All efforts to aestheticize politics culminate in one point. That one point is war’. I want to discuss aura. ‘Film divorce the aura’ seems a bit absolute. Though the camera substitutes the audience, new distance emerges between audience and the screen. Aura isn’t divorced, it turns into thousands of new auras. Every identity can feel an unique

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE]: WALTER BENJAMIN

Cat Links 2021 Blog, Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

[READING RESPONSE] Walter Benjamin

Posted on u3582509

In the article, Benjamin argued technological reproducibility reduces the authenticity and aura of modern artwork. Industrialization and mechanization leading to mass production, which lowers its cult value. I believe that art can act as a mean to establish a better relationship between human beings and technology. The writer described it as the “social function of film”(Benjamin, 2008) in particular example. French philosopher, Bernard Stiegler and American philosopher, Alva Noë also share the similar thoughts: artworks allows us to reorganize life by detachment from the reality and reflect on the the importance of technology. However, it is doubtful that “society was

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE] Walter Benjamin

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Reading Response: Walter Benjamin

Posted on yhl2501

Benjamin is critical about the technological reproduction, which diminishes the aura of the original art, especially under capitalism. I will resonate his argument while adding my two cents on it. Reproduction undermines the aesthetic value of an art form. Reproduced rapidly with technology, art is now no long unique nor authentic, leading to the decay of its aura. Therefore, we view art differently from the past. Flickering and fast moving images have revolutionized on our perception on art. For example, the Shambles is featured in a Harry Potter as Diagon Alley. The movie is so famous that this fictional identity

Continue readingReading Response: Walter Benjamin

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

Posted on u3581255

After reading Roland Barthes articles, I authentically believe that watching a movie in a theater can provide a better experience than other places. Nowadays, there are uncountable online platform provides movies to their member. For example, HBO, Netflix,iTunes. It means that you can watch a movie anywhere and the membership fee of those platforms are much cheaper than a movie ticket. Therefore, there is an increasing trend that peoples would rather join the membership of those online platforms than watching a movie in the cinema, especially during the pandemic. However, watching a movie in a cinema can provide a better

Continue readingReading Response: Roland Barthes

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City, Uncategorized

Reading Response: Walter Benjamin

Posted on Bertin Tong

I think Benjamin’s arguments were interesting, but I had a few thoughts when it came to his point about the authenticity and value of art. Personally, I don’t think the concept of authenticity exists,  making it impossible to create an argument around it. One can argue that authenticity belongs to the art piece first created in a brand new genre, but what about the following pieces that improve and surpass its predecessors? Art is subjectivity given form, where the artists and audiences perceive and interact based on their experiences and perceptions of the world, thus nobody can truly judge if

Continue readingReading Response: Walter Benjamin