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"Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times
very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was
insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques,
the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are
creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient
craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can
no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain
unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither
matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must
expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby
affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing
change in our very notion of art." (Steve Jobs, Keynote, MacWorld San Francisco
2004)
Preface
When Marx undertook his critique of the capitalistic mode of production, this
mode was in its infancy. Marx directed his efforts in such a way as to give them
prognostic value. He went back to the basic conditions underlying capitalistic
production and through his presentation showed what could be expected of
capitalism in the future. The result was that one could expect it not only to
exploit the proletariat with increasing intensity, but ultimately to create
conditions which would make it possible to abolish capitalism itself. The
transformation of the superstructure, which takes place far more slowly than
that of the substructure, has taken more than one and a half centuries to
manifest in all areas of culture the change in the conditions of production.
Only today can it be indicated what form this has taken. Certain prognostic
requirements should be met by these statements. However, theses about the art of
the new proletariat after its assumption of power or about the art of a
classless society would have less bearing on these demands than theses about the
developmental tendencies of art under present conditions of production. Their
dialectic is no less noticeable in the superstructure than in the economy. It
would therefore be wrong to underestimate the value of such theses as a weapon.
They brush aside a number of outmoded concepts, such as creativity and genius,
shareholder value and copyright - concepts whose uncontrolled (and at present
almost uncontrollable) application would lead to a processing of data in the
Fascist sense. The concepts which are introduced into the theory of art in what
follows differ from the more familiar terms in that they are completely useless
for the purposes of Fascism. They are, on the other hand, useful for the
formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art.
I
In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artifacts
could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of
their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third
parties in the pursuit of gain. Digital reproduction of a work of art, however,
represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps
at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. These convergent endeavors
made predictable a situation which Steve Jobs pointed up in this sentence: "Just
as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to
satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with
cultural commodities, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of
the hand, hardly more than a sign." Around 2000, technical reproduction has
reached a standard that not only permits it to reproduce all transmitted works
of art and thus to cause the most profound change in their impact upon the
public; it also has captured a place of its own among the artistic processes.
For the study of this standard nothing is more revealing than the nature of the
repercussions that these two different manifestations - the reproduction of
works of art and the art of reproduction - have had on art in its traditional
form.
II
Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element:
its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it
happens to be. One might subsume the eliminated element in the term "aura" and
go on to say: that which withers in the age of digital reproduction is the aura
of the work of art. This is a symptomatic process whose significance points
beyond the realm of art. One might generalize by saying: the technique of
reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By
making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique
existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the reader or listener in
his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced. These two
processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of
the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind. Both processes are intimately
connected with the contemporary mass movements. Their most powerful agent is the
Internet. Its social significance, particularly in its most positive form, is
inconceivable without its destructive, cathartic aspect, that is, the
liquidation of the traditional value of "intellectual property". This phenomenon
is most palpable in the great file sharing networks. It extends to ever new
positions. In 1999 Shawn Fanning exclaimed enthusiastically: "Shakespeare,
Rembrandt, Beethoven will be on Napster... all legends, all mythologies and all
myths, all founders of religion, and the very religions... await their exposed
resurrection, and the heroes crowd each other at the gate." Presumably without
intending it, he issued an invitation to a far-reaching liquidation.
III
During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with
humanity's entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense perception
is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by
nature but by historical circumstances as well. And if changes in the medium of
contemporary perception can be comprehended as decay of the aura, it is possible
to show its social causes. Namely, the desire of contemporary masses to bring
things "closer" spatially and humanly, which is just as ardent as their bent
toward overcoming the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction.
Every day the urge grows stronger to get hold of an object at very close range
by way of its likeness, its reproduction. To pry an object from its shell, to
destroy its aura, is the mark of a perception whose "sense of the universal
equality of things" has increased to such a degree that it extracts it even from
a unique object by means of reproduction. Thus is manifested in the field of
perception what in the theoretical sphere is noticeable in the increasing
importance of statistics. The adjustment of reality to the masses and of the
masses to reality is a process of unlimited scope, as much for thinking as for
perception.
IV
The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the
fabric of tradition. This tradition itself is thoroughly alive and extremely
changeable. It is significant that the existence of the work of art with
reference to its aura is never entirely separated from its ritual function. In
other words, the unique value of the "authentic" work of art has its basis in
ritual, the location of its original use value. This ritualistic basis, however
remote, is still recognizable as secularized ritual even in the most profane
forms of the cult of "intellectual property". An analysis of art in the age of
digital reproduction must do justice to these relationships, for they lead us to
an all-important insight: For the first time in world history, digital
reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on
ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of
art designed for reproducibility. From a digital text, for example, one can make
any number of copies; to ask for the "authentic" copy makes no sense. But the
instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic
production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on
ritual, it begins to be based on another practice - politics.
V
Works of art are received and valued on different planes. Two polar types stand
out; with one, the accent is on the cult value; with the other, on the
distribution of the work. With the different methods of technical reproduction
of a work of art, its fitness for distribution increased to such an extent that
the quantitative shift between its two poles turned into a qualitative
transformation of its nature. This is comparable to the situation of the work of
art in prehistoric times when, by the absolute emphasis on its cult value, it
was, first and foremost, an instrument of magic. Only later did it come to be
recognized as a work of art. In the same way today, by the absolute emphasis on
its distribution the work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions,
among which the one we are conscious of, the artistic function, later may be
recognized as incidental. This much is certain: today file sharing and the
Internet are the most serviceable exemplifications of this new function.
VI
The twentieth-century dispute as to the economic value of Television versus the
Internet today seems devious and confused. This does not diminish its
importance, however; if anything, it underlines it. The dispute was in fact the
symptom of a historical transformation the universal impact of which was not
realized by either of the rivals. When the age of digital reproduction separated
business from its basis in copyright, the semblance of its authority disappeared
forever. The resulting change in the function of the Internet transcended the
perspective of the century; for a long time it will even escape that of the
twenty-first century, which experienced the development of file sharing. Earlier
much futile thought had been devoted to the question of whether the Internet is
an economy. The primary question - whether the very invention of the Internet
had not transformed the entire economy - was not raised. Soon the Internet
theoreticians asked the same ill-considered question with regard to file
sharing. But the difficulties which the Internet caused traditional economies
were mere child's play as compared to those raised by file sharing.
VII
For centuries a small number of writers were confronted by many thousands of
readers. This changed toward the end of the nineteenth century. With the
increasing extension of the press, which kept placing new political, religious,
scientific, professional, and local organs before the readers, an increasing
number of readers became writers - at first, occasional ones. It began with the
daily press opening to its readers space for "letters to the editor." In the
twentieth century, there was hardly a gainfully employed European who could not,
in principle, find an opportunity to publish somewhere or other comments on his
work, grievances, documentary reports, or that sort of thing. Thus, the
distinction between author and public was about to lose its basic character. The
difference became merely functional; it began to vary from case to case. At any
moment the reader was ready to turn into a writer. As expert, which he had to
become willy-nilly in an extremely specialized work process, even if only in
some minor respect, the reader gained access to authorship. Literary license was
now founded on polytechnic rather than specialized training and thus became
common property. All this can easily be applied to the Internet, where
transitions that in literature took centuries have come about in a decade. In
digital practice, particularly in Asia, this change-over has partially become
established reality. In North America and Western Europe the capitalistic
exploitation of the Internet denies consideration to modern man's legitimate
claim to being reproduced. Under these circumstances the culture industry is
trying hard to spur the interest of the masses through illusion-promoting
spectacles and dubious speculations.
VIII
One of the foremost tasks of art has always been the creation of a demand which
could be fully satisfied only later. The history of every art form shows
critical epochs in which a certain art form aspires to effects which could be
fully obtained only with a changed technical standard, that is to say, in a new
art form. The extravagances and crudities of art which thus appear, particularly
in the so-called decadent epochs, actually arise from the nucleus of its richest
historical energies. In recent years, such barbarisms were abundant on the
Internet. It is only now that its impulse becomes discernible: Net Art attempted
to create by pictorial - and literary - means the effects which the public today
seeks in file sharing. Every fundamentally new, pioneering creation of demands
will carry beyond its goal. Net Art did so to the extent that it sacrificed the
market values which are so characteristic of the cultural commodities in favor
of higher ambitions - though of course it was not conscious of such intentions
as here described. The Net Artists attached much less importance to the sales
value of these commodities than to its usefulness for contemplative immersion.
The studied degradation of their material was not the least of their means to
achieve this uselessness. Their poems are "word salad" containing obscenities
and every imaginable waste product of language. The same is true of their
websites, on which they mounted buttons and tickets. What they intended and
achieved was a relentless destruction of the aura of their creations, which they
branded as reproductions with the very means of production.
IX
The mass is a matrix from which all traditional behavior toward works of art
issues today in a new form. Quantity has been transmuted into quality. The
greatly increased mass of participants has produced a change in the mode of
participation. The fact that the new mode of participation first appeared in a
disreputable form must not confuse the spectator. Yet some people have launched
spirited attacks against precisely this superficial aspect. Among these, Jack
Valenti has expressed himself in the most radical manner. What he objects to
most is the kind of participation which file sharing elicits from the masses.
Valenti calls file sharing "a pastime for helots, a diversion for uneducated,
wretched, worn-out creatures who are consumed by their worries a spectacle which
requires no concentration and presupposes no intelligence which kindles no light
in the heart and awakens no hope other than the ridiculous one of someday
becoming a 'star' in Silicon Valley." Clearly, this is at bottom the same
ancient lament that the masses seek distraction whereas art demands
concentration from the spectator. That is a commonplace.
Epilogue
The growing proletarianization of postmodern man and the increasing formation of
masses are two aspects of the same process. Fascism attempts to organize the
newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which
the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these
masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses
have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an
expression while preserving property. All efforts to render "rights management"
effective culminate in one thing: war. War and war only can set a goal for mass
movements on the largest scale while respecting the traditional property system.
This is the political formula for the situation. The technological formula may
be stated as follows: Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today's
technical resources while maintaining the property system.
(Note: "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction" is a slightly remixed version of Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproduction" from 1936.)
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