Walter Benjamin and Presence
In actuality, there are multiple dimensions to Walter Benjamin's claim about the "quality of presence" in a mechanically reproduced work of art. The most rudimentary of these, of course, is that the quality of presence of that work of art is somehow lacking. Benjamin believed the merit or value of the presence of a work of mechanically reproduced art was intrinsically less than that of original art, for reasons which largely appear obvious. The sort of presence which Benjamin was referring to is that associated with the space and time in which an original work of art was created, which is unique. There is no uniqueness to a reproduction of art. Moreover, with some of the modern techniques for reproducing art which influenced Benjamin's writing on this subject, mechanically reproduced art had even less of this unique manifestation in time and space which characterizes a large part of the presence of an original artistic piece.
Essentially then, Benjamin is claiming the nature of the quality of presence is diminished in mechanically reproduced art. It is diminished for multiple reasons. The primary one, however, is that mechanical reproductions are mere replicas and do not possess the originality of the works...
They are mere imitations and not genuine representations of that which the
artist was feeling or expressing at the time (and in the particular place) in which he or she rendered the work of art. Furthermore, thee are overtly artificial elements of mechanistically reproduced works of art which fundamentally decrease their quality of presence. These include unnaturally faded representations of colors and hues, or even distortions of the original due to the mechanical process of reproducing them.
Additionally, Benjamin also attributed certain implications about the quality of presence in mechanically produced works of art. His general premise is that these replicas diminish the authenticity and originality of a work of art. The significance he ascribes to these diminished representations has social ramifications. He sees that reduced quality of presence as a departure from the original history of a piece of art. By extension, then, he views that departure as a break from the cultural continuity which helped to produce the original.
What is important to realize about this conception of Benjamin's is that he believed it heralded immense social significance. He believed the decreased quality of presence in art contributed to circumstances in which originality and authenticity were in turn reduced. Therefore, these attributes also forced themselves on…
