Response to Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin was a very interesting read, I enjoyed getting to learn about older methods of creating artwork that I have not heard of before. It was interesting getting to learn the order of methods of production.

The original work of digital art was lithography. Lithography allowed for faster production of prints and faster production of artworks themselves. Photography was the next work of digital art after lithography. It allowed for artwork to be created quicker than was possible to make by hand. After the invention of photography, lithography became increasingly less used.

 A technology/ media that has changed the way I view, make, and share art is graphic art because I was not truly exposed to the capabilities of graphic art until a few years ago. My first experience with graphic design/ art was my sophomore year in high school, but even then, I was not really shown how to use the technology I had access to. I did not really get into graphic art until I got to college, when I started to take graphic design classes.

 I think of artistic authenticity as remaining true to a style or a tradition. It also involves being able to identify the artist behind the artwork and authenticate that the artwork truly was created by the artwork by examining the artwork’s brushstrokes and markings.  

Themes in artmaking are influenced by new technologies like social media because the reach of artmaking widened, allowing an increase of people to view, and possibly buy art. Another technology that influenced artwork is graphic design how we know it today because it allowed for quicker and higher quality production of the artworks.

I am very glad I live in a time when graphic design is as far established as it is, and other forms of media because it allows for artists, and myself, to experiment with different methods and different forms of media.