Under Auras Umbrella

The Use of Aura in a Digital Age

Samuel Zwaan 3031608 16-11-2011 Words (ex. footnotes, citations, bibliography CV and summary): 3100

Summary and CV Samuel Zwaan is a teaching assistant at the Department for Media Studies, University of Utrecht, and editor of the academic journal BLIK, dedicated to the exploration of audiovisual culture. He is currently enrolled in the M.A. New Media and Performance Studies, in which he will explore subjects within the field of new media. For his BA thesis, he conducted a discourse analysis of Dutch educational cinema of the 1920s and 1930s, which revealed enticing links to the limited number of cinematic audiences in the Netherlands. Within this article Samuel Zwaan explains how Walter Benjamins concept of aura is being used in the age of digital media. He argues that there is a pattern to be found in the use of aura in which aura has become an umbrella concept. It serves to shelter several other concepts with the risk of creating forced or false connections between these concepts.

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Summary and CV .............................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Section 1 Walter Benjamins Aura.......................................................................................... 5 Section 2 New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura ............................................... 6 Aura.................................................................................................................................................... 7 Art ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Aura in crisis ................................................................................................................................... 8 Umbrella ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Section 3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 11 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Introduction That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. 1 Benjamin defines aura as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be.2 ; A vague term but also renowned. He discusses the concept of aura most vigorously in his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction first published in 1936.3 Approximately thirty years after the essay was published, it began to receive broad international attention. Nowadays there are academics, like Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan, even stating that Benjamins Artwork essay opened up an intellectual field and that it is probably the most cited and debated essay in the history of academic humanities in the twentieth century. 4 Gumbrecht and Marrinan see this field as dynamic, never completely closed and representing many different reactions to Benjamins text .5 Apparently the concept of aura has become rooted within several areas of the humanities.6 Why is the concept of aura so rooted and being used in present day research? In this article I want to focus on this question. Gumbrecht and Marrinan stated that there is a dynamic field opened up because of the Artwork essay, perhaps there are certain patterns to be found in the way the concept of aura keeps being used by academics. Furthermore, by exploring the reasons why the concept of aura is rooted and being used, one could question if this usage is still fruitful or limiting research in the age of digital media. To answer these questions it will first be necessary to explain Benjamins concept of aura. The first section of this article will therefore focus on the Artwork essay and especially the concept of aura. In the second section, I will discuss more present day research. The main focus will be on the article New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura by Jay David Bolter, Blair Maclntyre, Maribeth Gandy and Petra Schweizter published in 2006.7 In this article Bolter et.al. apply the concept of aura to new media. Following the main question posed in this article, I will describe why Bolter et.al. are applying the concept of aura. Although the article by Bolter et.al. is just one article and

Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936), reprinted in Illuminations, trans. Harry Zohn, (London: Pimlico, 1999): 215. 2 Ibidem, 217. 3 Walter Benjamin, Loeuvre dart lpoque de sa reproduction mcanise in Zeitschrift fr Sozialforschung vol.5.1 (1936): 40-68. 4 Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan, Editors Preface in Mapping Benjamin red. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003): xiii, xv. 5 Ibid. 6 Areas like cultural studies, media studies etc. 7 Jay David Bolter et. al., New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura in Convergence volume 12.1 (2006): 21-39.

therefore cannot be enough to answer the question why aura is so rooted and still being used, it can function as a guide to briefly address a sample of other articles with similar uses of aura. Conducting the analysis in this way intertwines the different sections. By explaining Benjamins concept of aura, the rootedness of the concept will become clearer. It will be even clarified more when discussing the usage of the concept of aura in Bolters article. Finally, by using the article of Bolter et.al. as a guide to (briefly) explore other articles, I will be able to shed some light on the question why the concept of aura is so rooted and still being used and also question the status of the concept of aura in the age of digital media. Section 1 Walter Benjamins Aura The concept of aura which was proposed with reference to historical objects may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones. We define aura of the latter as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be.8 According to Benjamin an artwork has a certain uniqueness because of distance. An example would be if, while resting on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the aura of those mountains, of that branch.9 In footnote five of the Artwork essay Benjamin elaborates on the concept of aura. Aura defined as the phenomenon of a distance however close it may be represents nothing but the formulation of the cult value of the work of art in categories of space and time perception. 10 Two aspects are important here to notice. First, that distance is the opposite of closeness. Defining aura as Benjamin does makes the closeness which one may gain from its subject matter not impair the distance which it retains in its appearance.; from this perspective the work of art always remains unapproachable which is a core constituent quality of aura.11 The second important aspect is that of the cult value. The uniqueness of the work of art is intertwined with the notion of tradition. The unique value of the "authentic" work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value.12

8 9

Benjamin, 216. Ibid. 10 Ibid, 236. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid, 217.

In the Artwork essay Benjamin argues that in the age of mechanical reproduction it is exactly this intertwining with tradition, this basis in ritual, which has been lost. The loss of this parasitical dependence on ritual consequently leads to a loss of aura. 13 In the age of mechanical reproduction the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility.14 Furthermore, authenticity ceases to be a criterion for artistic production, leading to a reversal of the function of art. A function not based on ritual but on politics: The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced. Since the historical testimony rests on the authenticity, the former, too, is jeopardized by reproduction when substantive duration ceases to matter. And what is really jeopardized when the historical testimony is affected is the authority of the object.15 Benjamin however seems to be cautious in being either positive of negative to this loss of aura. He states there is a loss of aura and simultaneously new possibilities arising due to mechanical reproduction. Possibilities such as the exhibition of mechanically reproduced artworks which becomes easier and within specific art forms, like cinema, it becomes possible to see things in a different/new way.16 An example would be the detailed recording of the movement of the body (perhaps even in slow-motion). Although Benjamins work is much more extensive than what has been discussed now, including on the concept of aura, within the framework of this article the explanation on aura will suffice. In moving to the next section it is crucial to realise that in writing about aura, Benjamin was writing about the changing relationship(s) between art and the technological environment. In Benjamins case the changing factor was mechanical reproduction. In an article by Bolter et.al. they focus on the present changing environment, one of digital media. Section 2 New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura This section has been split in four parts. The division has been made to place the critique on some of the statements Bolter et.al. make immediately after these statements. The first critique is on the concept of aura itself. The second critique is on the concept of art.

13 14 15 16

Ibid, 218. Ibid. Ibid, 215. Ibid, 219-224.

In the part Aura in crisis the main argument that Bolter et.al. state is explained followed by the third (more concluding) point of critique in the part titled Umbrella. Aura Bolter et.al. argue that Benjamin was wrong in his statements on the irrevocable loss of aura which was discussed in the previous section. Aura is in a state of crisis, alternately being questioned and reaffirmed.17 The difficulty in the age of digital media is, according to Bolter et.al., that there are art forms like mixed reality which exist at the boundary between reproductive technologies and older forms, to which Benjamin ascribed aura. 18 At first glance aura seems to be a useable concept within this article. The environment has changed to a digital one, furthermore, both the environments of the mechanical and the digital seem to deal with the issue of reproduction. Aura therefore seems like a useable concept in the discussion on new media. It is the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. At the same time this is troublesome. The fluidity, broadness and perhaps even vagueness of the concept of aura seems to be useable in a variety of ways. What do we actually gain, what do we learn when using aura if it is so easily appropriated? Keeping in mind this first point of critique we move forward to how Bolter et.al. use aura in the relation(s) between art and the technological environment. Art The authors state that in the art form of mixed reality the physical and virtual intertwine. The physical is unique, the virtual is reproductive. Consequently the intertwining of the physical and virtual also means shifts in the balance between uniqueness and reproduction, which could result in a possible revival of aura. This possible revival however is based on the assumption that mixed reality can be equated with aura and virtual reality with a rejection of aura, but can we assume this?19 The answer is to be found in the very core of the concept of aura, in the tension between distance and closeness.20

17 18

Ibid, 22. Bolter et.al., 21-22. In mixed reality applications, the computer provides digital information that is integrated into the users view of the physical environment. An example would be augmented reality applications on your mobile phone. 19 Ibid, 24. 20 Ibid, 26.

Before focusing on this tension it is important to recognise the same difficulties that are present as with the troublesome definition of aura; only now with regards to art. There isnt a clear description on what art actually is. On the one hand this is useful because it doesnt seem fruitful to fall into a never ending discussion about what art is. On the other hand, art is a part of the equation so to say. Aura is about art even if it is unclear if aura is a part of the artwork or that aura is invoked in the relationship(s) between art and the technological environment. It is important to have some idea on what art is because not everything is art, so aura does not apply to everything. One could for instance argue that mixed reality or virtual reality has nothing to do with art. In the end however, the unclear perspective on what art is within the framework of aura makes it a useful concept for Bolter.et.al. Leaving this question unanswered we continue to a more detailed explanation on how virtual reality is rejecting aura and mixed reality invoking aura, on the tension between distance and closeness. Aura in crisis Virtual reality rejecting aura can be explained by referring to the concept of presence. A sense of presence is a goal and measure in virtual reality applications.21 Presence refers to a feeling of being there; it is a proximity no matter how far. Aura however is a sense of distance not matter how near. To take what is remote and unapproachable (and therefore auratic) and to bring it near to the subject is precisely Benjamins recipe for destroying aura.22 Difficult however in the discussion Bolter et.al. have on the different kinds of reality is that they state there are different levels of aura: A media technologys capacity to generate aura depends on the degree to which it convinces the user that she is in the presence of the authentic; presence and authenticity therefore depend on assumptions that the user has about technology. 23 The user knows VR is reproductive and is therefore not in the presence of the authentic. 24 As a result aura diminishes to perhaps only a mild sense of aura, a memory of aura. 25 A photograph in that sense could invoke the memory of aura more because of the causal
21 22

Ibid, 27. Ibid, 28. 23 Ibid, 29. 24 Bolter et. al. state that in Virtual Reality everything is equally near, there is no distinction between the objects. Everything is created by computer graphics. Aura therefore cant be created since it is difficult to invoke the interplay between distance and closeness. 25 Bolter et.al., 30.

relation between the original and every print.26 This indeed depends on the assumption one has on a technology like photography. Within mixed reality the presence in the authentic is clear seeing the quite literal combining of the virtual and (authentic) physical world. The physical with its history, emphasizing its distance resulting in a tension between distance and closeness or aura. Bolter et.al. link their statements on aura, virtual reality and mixed reality to the concept of remediation (coined by Bolter and Grusin).27 Remediation describes the interaction between older and newer media forms. Aspects of older media forms are used in newer media forms, they are remediated.28 Within the interplay of older and newer media forms we become aware of aura in art.29 Two opposing strategies of representation, namely transparency and hypermediacy, are used in the remediation of media forms. Transparency aims to evoke aura in the viewer, whilst hypermediacy calls aura in question. Transparency strives to hide the process of mediation (to be authentic), hypermediacy emphasises the mediated.30 At this point the permanent crisis of aura and new media becomes clear. Mixed reality, a new media form, seems to be more auratic than virtual reality seeing the link to the physical vis--vis the authentic with its history (tradition/ritual). However, mixed reality is not transparent and often does not strive to be transparent. The mediatization is obvious, it is hypermediated. On the other hand virtual reality is striving to achieve transparency but does not do so and as a result aura diminishes. Strangely enough contemporary popular media see no contradiction in pursuing the auratic and nonauratic almost simultaneously.31 In the quest for authenticity and aura, media forms keep being remediated and in this remediation always hides the possibility of a decay of aura. Now that the permanent crisis of aura is explained, an answer can be formulated on the use of aura by Bolter et.al. and its fruitfulness.

26 27

Ibid. Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999) 28 An example would be how film remediated stage drama, borrowing from the practices of the stage in order to present a story through action and dialog. 29 Bolter et.al., 32. 30 The transparent film style for instance, strives for immediacy, it strives to bring the viewer as close as possible to the real and hide the mediated. According to Bolter et.al., Benjamin is actually talking about immediacy when describing aura as a feeling of distance however near. The hypermediated film style however does not hide the mediated. The process of representation is clear and therefore there is a loss of aura. 31 Ibid, 34.

Umbrella As stated earlier, the fluidity and broadness of the concept of aura make it a useable, much used and rooted concept but also problematic in the age of digital media. Yes, the environment has changed and new forms of media have introduced new forms of (re)production. But is it therefore necessary to adjust this idea of aura so that it fits in todays frameworks? Of course the fluidity and broadness of the concept of aura and the lack of really defining art make it possible to do so. At the same time it makes one wonder what will be gained from using concepts that are so easily adjusted or transformed. In the case of Bolter et.al. they come to the conclusion that the concept of aura is in a permanent crisis in the age of new media. Again, it doesnt seem fruitful to use concepts that are very fluid, vague and also in a permanent state of crisis. Does this make the article by Bolter et.al. useless? Not at all, what seems to be the case or problem is that aura has undeniably gained much attention within humanities. The concept has gained a certain normative value. Most importantly, with regards to new (digital) media it of course is important or interesting to analyse the relationship(s) between art and the technological environment. Aura therefore seems like a good way to start an analysis. It however seems like the statements authors like Bolter et.al. are making concern concepts that are heavily intertwined with aura, but that aura itself has lost its fruitfulness within the discussion. Aura has changed into an umbrella concept, forcing all these concepts like authenticity, mediation, immediacy, transparency, hypermediacy, presence, art and reality under one umbrella. In the end it is these concepts we learn more about, not so much about aura. Discussing these concepts under the same umbrella can lead to false connections between them. It is for instance not a fact that authenticity and transparency always have a connection. Within the framework of aura however, the connection seems to be easily made. Perhaps it is therefore wiser to lose this umbrella concept of aura and discuss these concepts from a different viewpoint then aura. Within the time limits of this article I will not provide an alternative perspective, besides different perspectives are offered in for instance the article The End of Aura by Stephen G. Nichols. He advises that instead of filling the void left by the less of aura, we focus make it the center of attention by using a revisionary practice of literary history. 32 What is important to notice here, is the indication that aura as an umbrella concept is present in more articles, not necessarily concerning digital media. An example

32

Stephan G. Nichols, The End of Aura in Mapping Benjamin red. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003): 267.

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would be the article Railroad Space & Railroad Time by Wolfgang Schivelbusch.33 In this article Schilelbusch is discussing the transformations in time and space with the coming of the railroad system. In the transformation of time and space Schilvelbusch sees a loss of aura. In this article, we see the analysis made on several concepts like time and space again more or less forcefully put under the umbrella that is aura. The concept of aura is so vague, no indication of what is art and what not resulting in a use of aura that has no gain. Yes, we learn about transformations in time and space, nut this is not due to the use of a concept like aura. Aura (as an umbrella concept) only problematises the analysis Schivelbusch makes. Other examples would be the article Racial Aura : Walter Benjamin and the Work of Art in a Biotechnological Age or Walter Benjamin in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Aura in Education: A Rereading of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.34 Within the limits of this article it is not possible to discuss all these articles. Furthermore, this idea of aura as an umbrella concept is just one of the ways in which aura is being used, it is one pattern. Needless to say there are a variety of ways in which aura is being used, there are more patterns.35 More research is needed to investigate the idea of aura as an umbrella concept and to clarify the different uses of the concept of aura. Section 3 Conclusion At the beginning of this article the question was posed why the concept of aura is so rooted and still being used in present day research? Is this usage still useful? To answer this question I first addressed the concept of aura as explained in Benjamins Artwork essay. Aura was defined as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. The uniqueness of the authentic work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value. In the second section I analysed a more present day article by Jay David Bolter, Blair Maclntyre, Maribeth Gandy and Petra Schweizter titled New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura. I described how they are applying the concept of aura to shed some light on possible reasons why aura is so rooted within humanities and being used a

33

Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Railroad Space & Railroad Time in New German Critique 14 (1978): 31-40. 34 Eve Alys Weinbaum, Racial Aura : Walter Benjamin and the Work of Art in a Biotechnological Age in Literature and Medicine 26.1 (2007): 207-239. Nick Peim, Walter Benjamin in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Aura in Education: A Rereading of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in Journal of Philosophy of Education 41.3 (2007): 363-394. 35 Some articles for instance critique the concept of aura, some articles literally use Benjamins definition etc.

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lot. Bolter et.al. argued that mixed reality seems to be more auratic than virtual reality seeing the link to the physical vis--vis the authentic with its history (tradition/ritual). In the quest for authenticity and aura however, media forms keep being remediated and in this remediation always hides the possibility of a decay of aura. Mixed reality is not transparent and often does not strive to be transparent. The mediatization is obvious, it is hypermediated. On the other hand virtual reality is striving to achieve transparency but does not do so and as a result aura diminishes. Bolter et.al. use the concept of aura because it is a concept about the relation(s) between art and a changing technological environment. This is one of the key point in the article. The fluidity and broadness of the concept of aura lends itself to be used again and again. At the same time this is part of the downfall of such a concept. What do we actually gain or learn if a concept is so easily changed or applied? Similar critique is applicable on the concept of art. There isnt a clear description on what art actually is. In part this is useful because it doesnt seem fruitful to fall into a never ending discussion about what art is. On the other hand, it is important to have some idea on what art is because not everything is art, so aura does not apply to everything. Does it actually apply to mixed and virtual reality? These aspects that make it easy to apply the concepts of art and aura also problematise them. Aura has changed into an umbrella concept, forcing all these concepts like authenticity, mediation, immediacy, transparency, hypermediacy, presence, art and reality under one umbrella. In the end it is these concepts we learn more about, not so much about aura. By placing them under the same umbrella however, connections are made more forcefully. As a result connections are made that are not necessarily there. In the end the problem lies in the perspective a researcher is using. I have explained that using a perspective in which aura is applied, is not as fruitful anymore and can lead to problematic situations. This was not only the case in the article by Bolter et.al., but also in other articles that were briefly discussed. More research however is necessary. Within the time limits of this article it was difficult to discuss a more varied and broader sample of articles. There seems to be an indication of a pattern in the usage of aura that use it as an umbrella concept. There are of course a variety of other patterns and even the patterns of aura as an umbrella concept needs to be analysed more.

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Bibliography Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936), reprinted in Illuminations, trans. Harry Zohn. London: Pimlico, 1999. ---. Loeuvre dart lpoque de sa reproduction mcanise in Zeitschrift fr Sozialforschung vol.5.1 (1936): 40-68. Bolter, Jay David et.al. New Media and the Permanent Crisis of Aura, Convergence volume 12.1 (2006): 21-39. Bolter, Jay David and Richard Gruson. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999. Gumbrecht, Hans Ulrich and Michael Marrinan. Editors Preface. In: Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan (ed.) Mapping Benjamin. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003, i-xi. Nichols, G. Stephan. The End of Aura. In: Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Michael Marrinan (ed.) Mapping Benjamin. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003,256-268. Peim, Nick. Walter Benjamin in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Aura in Education: A Rereading of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in Journal of Philosophy of Education 41.3 (2007): 363-394. Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Railroad Space & Railroad Time, New German Critique 14 (1978): 31-40. Weinbaum, Alys Eve. Racial Aura : Walter Benjamin and the Work of Art in a Biotechnological Age, Literature and Medicine 26.1 (2007): 207-239.

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