h mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art. The internet is accessed much more frequently, with a viewpoint exponentially wider and with a more intimate exploration of cultural circumstances, than the narrow viewpoint expressed by filmmakers. With the expansion of the internet and the hardware required to access it, applying Benjamins analogy may make us consider this new digital age of reproduction a type of orthoscopic surgeon; one that allows the penetration and collapse of distance to be dramatically increased, with the evidence of this penetration nothing more than a small scar that is forgotten quickly, and an effect of the experience one that leaves an indelible impression on the user. In all cases the viewer has an altered viewpoint that permits him or her to take the role of a critic, and they are similarly disassociated from the performance. Getting back to the idea of art having a spiritual mystical quality that Benjamin touches on, nowadays it is anticipated by the artist that his or her work will be reproduced. Often art may be created solely for the anticipation of reproduction, whether to fulfill a personal, political, or perhaps a monetary agenda rather than a works primary source of interest being its ritualistic, mystical properties. These alternate agendas are formulated with the masses in mind, and as such target the collective and not the individual. Later in the article Benjamin discusses how the age of mechanical reproduction could lead to war because technology is resisted by people, to a certain extent, as a natural extension of themselves. The artificiality of reproductions could facilitate a divorcement of the way in which the spiritual and mystical aura aspects of an original piece of art is perceived. He believes that perhaps the problem is not in the mechanical reproduction itself, but the way in which society has n...
