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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Reconsidering Benjamin's Aura in "Art of Banks"
Author(s)
Canan Akin and N. Sezin Kipcak
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DOI:10.17265/1548-7709/2016.04.001
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ABSTRACT
Since Walter Benjamin wrote his renowned essay "The Work of Art in te Age of Mechanical Reproduction" in 1936, the
aura of an artwork has always been an issue of debate. Benjamin describes aura as "an art work's unique existence at the placit happens to be" and claims thatthe aura of an art work is born out of the combination of factors such as uniqueness, tradition, distance and authenticity. Benjamin announces the "death of aura" as consequence of new technologies which enable artworks to be reproduced mechanically. Benjamin's claim is primarily true inworks of art in digital form, including graffiti art reflected on screens via digital technologies. Graffiti art, which reacts against the commodification of all things including time and space, is commodified when it is displayed in an environment which is different from the one its meaning was rooted and thus is deprived of its aura. This paper aims to discuss how Benjamin's "aura" finds its reflections in Graffiti art. It proposes that commodification of "graffii" artworks and displaying them in new sites via digital technologies leads to vanishing of their aura. In the light of Benjamin' views, the exhibition titled "The Art of Banksy", ich had its world premiere in Istanbul in January 2016 will be examined on its capacity to evoke aura.
KEYWORDS
Aura, Benjamin, Banksy, graffiti
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