Sat in front of my computer to complete the project having read, and commented on, the two set pieces of reading and looked at the works of Sherrie Levine and Cindy Sherman and followed links to the works of other artists such as Glenn Brown, Richard Prince and Barbra Kruger. I then stopped and asked myself whether I had really gained anything from this effort.
The set readings were interesting and raised some questions but apart from agreeing with the limiting effect that the concept of 'Author' has on a critical appreciation of various forms of art I am not sure it took me any further. At the end of the day I have to live in the world as it is even if it is imperfect and unfair. I cope with this by using my knowledge and intelligence to try and make sense of all that is around me. I acknowledge that I am conditioned to interpret what I see in specific ways but much of this is an unconscious reaction where I assume that things are a 'natural' state because they have always appeared to me to be that way. However it is also true that those who offer some alternative view as they see it are also subject to their conditioning. They too cannot think outside their box and their world is no more or less valid than mine. I can be accused of not wishing to leave my 'comfort zone' and this may be true but I have to be persuaded that someone else's view has some basis. Simply stating concepts as facts does not make them facts that must be true in all 'realities'. Although the Course seems hell bent on disregarding critics of the views expounded in the readings and material we are offered they exist and in my view should be at least referred to so that the student can consider them.
Let us look at the second bullet point in which we are asked to consider - If the birth of the reader is at the expense of the author is there still any of Benjamin's 'aura' left? The existence of Benjamin's 'aura' is taken as a given. Whilst the first part starts with an 'if' does it allow of the answer that states that the birth of the reader is NOT at the expense of the author? If this was the case then the second part re the 'aura' does not require answering which I assume was not the intention of the writer of the Course. Similarly the answers to the 3rd and 4th bullet points could be a simple 'no' as I assume the 'this' refers to the 'birth of the reader...... statement in the the 2nd bullet point. In other words you have to accept the validity of the statement in order to offer a response.
Do I want to tackle the project - not really. Will I - probably. Lets see.
I think you have the quotation marks in the wrong place, it is 'Benjamin's' aura you are asked to think about! What I mean is that Benjamin had the idea of the aura in his particular context and if the reader rather than the maker is in control of meaning does this refute Benjamin's idea.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas presented to you in this module are those that have tended to influence the production of our visual culture, the counter arguments at least their contemporary counter arguments, have had little or no effect and so in this introductory, level 4 module have been left to the student to discover and pursue if they wish. It is immaterial for our purposes here, whether the counter arguments are appealing to us or not if they did not have an influence on the mainstream of visual culture. This is not a module in comparative philosophy merely an introduction to the ideas that artists and the like took up.