Walter Benjamin ""THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION"

. works of art have an inherent "Aura."
. Cave paintings are the first form of "Aura".
. Aura created a cult of beauty.
. the rise of technology/mechanism(reproduction) helped destroy the aura.
.  photography has/had/will destroy the aura.
. Walter Benjamin used the term "aura" when describing the effect Hashish had on him in 1930
. Without the aura art would become political. Reproduction would make art political. (both a good thing and a bad thing)

Jack Burgess explains Contemporary Art

Jack Burgess explains contemporary art in a four minuet video. This video illistrates the confusion views experience while looking at a contemporary art peice. He is trying to say that contemporary art is conceptually based, meaning it has everything to do with specific choices of materials and a reason bhind every mark. The subject matter must be interesting and relevant and most of the time, has something to do with the artists personally. 

"A New Boss, and a Jolt of Real-World Expertise" by Roberta Smith

Roberta Smiths article discusses Jeffrey Deitch's new position as the director of the Museum of Contemporary art in Los Angeles. She explains her ideas on how much of a big change this will bring to the Museum. This time around they are moving away from the traditional "academically trained directors in favor of the autodidacts."

What kind of change is this going to bring to the museum in terms of how it looks?

Will this make the museum more exciting?

Will this make the museum more corrupt?

"Anti-Mainstream Museum's Mainstream Show" Roberta Smith

Roberta Smith reviews and discusses the show "Skin Fruit" that was held at the New Museum in the spring of 2010. All in all, her opion of the show was poor, and she mainly had a negative outlook towards it. She explainins how the show was poorley curated making it complicated and uninviting. She was more concerned with the curation, then she was willing to talk about the work.

What is an example of a good curated show according to her?

Why is she talking about the curation more the the art itself?

Should the New Museum change their name?

Zizek on Crossdressing to the Sound of Music

Although Zizeks accent was strong and it was hard for me to clearly hear some of his points he was trying to make, he was trying to talk about the metaphors of the sound of music by referring to it as a "cheap shot." He says the the Nazis were impersonating the jews all along and that the Jews were taking over politics, banking, and ultimately the whole world. Basically, that the Nazis wanted to be like the Jews. He uses the term "cross-dressing" to explain how the Nazis wanted to look and have control over the Jews. I was very confused by the video clip, but i do belive there is some relevance to the art world today.

1. What role did this musical have in terms of WW2?
2. What kind of Nazi propaganda is still alive today?
3. Are many people offended by the Sound Of Music?

Sound Of Music Video

It was clear that the spectators were really feeling this performance.  It had everything to do with relational aesthetics because there performers and the views were both experiencing the piece together. While the dancers translated the music through there body, the audience clearly had a similar connection but felt the music through feeling. Everyone was experiencing the performance differently, it was almost interactive by the presence of energy in the room and that fact that everyone was experiencing feeling, either physically like the dancers, or mentally like the spectators.

Barthe's "Death of the Author"

Roland Barthe explains that sometimes the artist gets to much credit for their peice of art.  To him, writing is neutral, and it doesnt have its own personal "voice" once the work is written on paper. The writing itself becomes a symbol, overriding the author who puts there soul into the writing. It seems that people are more caught up with the author of a work, then the actual work itself. This runs along the lines of American culture and there observations with celebrity gossip. Today, tabloids are incredibly successful because people want to know actors, and singers life story and it is accessible through the media. In terms of an artist, i believe it is important to know there background because there art is a reflection of who they are. And when someone likes a piece or thinks its interesting, it is important to understand why it was made by researching the artists and knowing there own connection to the work they produce.

- Is it always important to know who the author is, in refrence to there work?

- What kind of hints can one look for that would give away who the author really is?

- Is every piece of writing a reflection of the author him/herself?