Week 3 - Industrialization's Affect on Art and Society

The debate as to whether industrialization has been beneficial or detrimental to art has valid arguments on both sides.

Walter Benjamin argues that mechanical reproduction, a major byproduct of industrialization, has depreciated the authenticity of art.  This is very serious since he believes “the authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning” (Benjamin).  Thus, mechanical reproduction of art, such as photography, destroys the very essence of the art work.

Benjamin even goes as far to argue that film has depreciated the experience of art to that of “absent-minded” distraction as opposed to that of contemplation (Benjamin).

On the other hand, industrialization has created new forms of art never before imagined.  As alluded to above, industrialization made the production of film possible.  (http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventors/ss/George_Eastman.htm)

Kodak film factory worker. (http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/emissourian.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/0f/80fc8890-42b7-11e1-9cb2-0019bb2963f4/4f183f7303755.preview-300.jpg)

Film and the motion picture have brought contemplation and imagination to the masses.  For example, Star Trek not only empowered the futuristic imagination of space exploration, wireless communication, and even cyborgs, but it also raised questions of human ethics that would not have been available to the masses if it were not for the production of film.
http://www.imdb.com/list/g1v-idg7IsI/
http://www.edrobertson.com/ethics.htm

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081121204425/memoryalpha/en/images/thumb/3/36/The_Ethics_of_Star_Trek_alternate.jpg/118px-The_Ethics_of_Star_Trek_alternate.jpg

After analyzing both sides of the argument, I believe that instead of looking at whether industrialization was beneficial or detrimental to art and society as a whole, we should acknowledge that the very nature of art is fluid.  New forms of art arise, while old forms of art wither away.  We must accept this as the flow of nature, for better or for worse.  Its affect on society is just another contributing factor to the evolution of man.

http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/fineart/change/change.htm

Evolution of Portrait (http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/portr.gif)

Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.