How does Benjamin understand and treat "art in the era of mechanical reproduction"

He is interested in these research objects. On the one hand, he has seen the profound social and cultural changes brought about by capitalist economic development, industrialized production and scientific and technological progress; On the other hand, the evolution of European political situation brought him personal experience. As a scholar who escaped from Nazi persecution, Benjamin naturally began to reflect on various social problems and cultural phenomena of his time. The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction published by 1935 is the ideological product of this situation. Before Benjamin, collector Edward? 6? 1 fox has begun to study replication technology and popular culture. Benjamin's theory of mechanical reproduction was formed by summing up the latest development achievements of scientific and technological civilization under the direct influence and inspiration of Fox. In the preface of this article, Benjamin revealed the purpose of his writing: on the one hand, to study the new changes of art under the conditions of capitalism, on the other hand, to find the reasons and ways for art to serve the proletarian revolution under the conditions of modern reproduction technology, so as to resist fascism and create new myths by using art. The mechanical reproduction art discussed in this paper mainly appears in the form of photography and movies, not only because they are new art forms that appear with the development of technology in the developed capitalist stage, but also because they are obviously different from traditional art in many aspects such as artistic form and function. In addition, in Benjamin's theory, these two forms play a symbolic role in the development of social culture, and the study of these two forms can fully reflect Benjamin's new thinking on art, culture, society and politics. In the first section of Works of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, he studied the development of reproduction technology of works of art, from melting and pressing in ancient Greece to woodcut, copperplate and lithograph. The progress of these replication technologies has brought more and more convenience for human beings to spread visual images. Mechanical reproduction technology can not only expand our visual experience, but also help the works of art to spread widely around the world. A large number of identical mechanical reproduction works of art make the original unique works of art "authenticity" disappear. Benjamin believes that another change brought by mechanical reproduction is that the aura of traditional works of art has disappeared. The concept of aura (some people translate aura into aura, aura, etc. ) comes from Benjamin's visual experience of works of art and his thinking about traditional art. In A Brief History of Photography, Benjamin thinks that the works taken when photography was just invented have a special taste. When photography technology was first invented, because imaging required a long exposure time i9, it was necessary for the subject to look at the camera for a long time and keep a posture. Benjamin thinks that the eyes of the characters in this photo and other visual expressions of the photo have a kind of "charm". Since then, with the development of photography technology and the emergence of large aperture, high-speed shutter allows photographers to quickly capture the image of the subject, which dispels the "charm" in previous photos with the progress of technology. With the deepening of Benjamin's research, the concept of charm is gradually generalized. Charm refers to some representations of traditional culture. For example, in Storyteller, he thinks that storytellers in agricultural society have a charm. Replication technology not only dispels the charm of artistic works, but also changes the way of artistic creation. Art began to be created by many people according to a certain process. For example, film production involves directors, actors, producers, photographers, artists, recording and many other production links, such as post-editing, special effects, printing and so on. The creation of the creator of mechanical reproduction art is often fragmented, indifferent and subjective. Traditional artistic creation is often a personal act, and artists can realize their will more completely. Benjamin believes that mechanical reproduction technology not only changes the way of artistic creation, but also changes the function of artistic works. Benjamin said: the foundation of art is no longer etiquette, but another kind of practice: politics. Benjamin believes that the important role of mechanical reproduction art is to show its display function, serve the political struggle and become a tool for propaganda and agitation. How people appreciate and accept the art of mechanical reproduction is also a focus of Benjamin's attention. First of all, Benjamin saw that because of the implementation of compulsory education, the recipients of artistic works may become experts in a certain field. He gave examples of Soviet movies, in which many actors were played by workers, soldiers and farmers. Benjamin believes that it is a progressive attitude for the audience to combine the fun of watching Chaplin's movies with the attitude of professional judgment. When looking at Picasso's paintings, there is often a phenomenon of separation of appreciation and criticism, which is a backward attitude. Movies can satisfy a large number of audiences to watch collectively, and in this process, the interaction between group reaction and individual reaction can be realized, which painting can't do. Benjamin believes that the audience can meditate while watching a painting, but when watching a movie, a picture has passed before it is clearly seen, which makes it impossible for the audience to stare at the picture carefully. In this process, people's association activities are immediately interrupted by the change of the picture, and the change of the picture will have a shocking effect. This feature of the film makes the audience have to give up the calm and focused way of watching, and grasp the content of the film through fragmented viewing in an entertaining way. Benjamin said: Acceptance in entertainment-which has attracted more and more attention in all artistic fields, represents a profound change in concept-has found a real practical means in movies. Movies bring the worship value back to the backstage, because it not only puts the audience in the position of critics, but also has the fact that the position of critics in the cinema does not need full attention. The public is an examiner, but it is a half-hearted examiner. In the postscript of Art in the Age of Mechanical Replication, Benjamin revealed how fascism used modern replication technology to organize and control the masses. He believes that the political means of fascism is to introduce aesthetics into political life, which is embodied in beautifying war. He refuted this, thinking that this behavior, which takes the destruction of human beings as the highest aesthetic enjoyment, is a manifestation of serious alienation of human beings. Communists responded to fascist behavior with aesthetic politicization.