Summary of Sections X-XV

“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

By Walter Benjamin

Summary of Sections X-XV

The actors performance in front of the camera is pretty much everything to his or her career. Whether it is an actual film camera used to create a film or even news cameras used to report on the news. The actor is self-conscience at all times in front of whichever camera as to their performance in front of a viewing audience. Evan though the audience isn’t a live audience like in theater, the impact of the audience in the world of film and television is just as large or even larger.

Walter Benjamin looks at how a painter would compare to a camera man. Mr. Benjamin discusses that a painter distances himself from reality whereas a camera man jumps right into the realm of reality. From my understanding of it, it seems as if Mr. Benjamin is saying that a camera man has a better grip on recreating reality because of the technological advancement he has to work with. When art is mechanically reproduced it changes people’s reaction towards it. The world of film brings a large glimpse of the world and everything in it right into our living rooms. The meaning and effects of art changes through one medium to the next. How a painting is perceived in a museum may be perceived diferenty if it were displayed on the internet, in a magazine or even on a cereal carton