a) What is the "Aura" of a work of art?
The "uniqueness" or "authenticity" that many people feel is necessary in a artwork. It is the magical or mysterious quality that maintained a distance between the art and it's creator to the viewers. According to Walter Benjamin, mechanical reproduction made the "aura" wither away.
b)In Benjamin's mind, what effects did mechanical reproduction, such as film and the camera/photography, have on the viewer's perception of art?
With photography and film, art no longer had to look at the world in retrospect. The almost instant and real quality of camera and film made the art move at the speed of speech. It also brought the public closer to art, since it was more easy to understand in process and final product.
c)What is meant by the passage:"for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual."
Due to mechanical reproduction and artwork being created for reproduction like the slide image where the idea of "original" doesn't make sense, the "aura" no longer had to exist on a artwork. You no longer have to be "qualified" to make art, anyone with a camera could easily approach and experiment with any type of art they pleased.
d)What mechanically or otherwise reproductive processes are changing the face of art today?
rapid prototyping (3D printer) and 3D softwares, video or image editing softwares (Photoshop, Flash, Final Cut) and the internet. Youtube, blogs and wysiwyg web design softwares like Dreamweaver are making reproduced and original artworks visible to anyone around the world. Also, many hardwares that were previously too expensive for individual owners are quickly becoming more and more affordable.
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