The Work of Art in the Age of Social Media

To me, Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction was a one of the most influential essay about modernity and art.  When talking about the popularity of mechanical reproduction of a master piece of art, Benjamin noted:  “…even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: Its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. … By changing the cultural context, the mechanical reproduction diminishes the original art work (original vs. copy); thus, the aura, the unique aesthetic authority of an artwork, is absent from the mechanically produced copy”.

It was also nearly twenty years ago, as a student in Paris during the summer of 1997, I truly understood the significance of time and space in relationship to the appreciation of art.  For example, the impressionist movement represented such a revolutionary paradigm shift (from the elite to the “mandane” - the everyday life and people) during that era which made their art, completely independent of their techniques, to bear unique historical and social values.   

In search of what Benjamin called “the aura” of the original masterpieces, I set out to show art to my 10 year old son Marlon on his first trip to Paris.  I found it interesting that what motivated Marlon most about seeing Mona Lisa was the fact that I bought him a T-shirt with Mona Lisa dabbing on the previous day in Monmatre and he was determined to do the dab with the T-shirt in front of the “real” Mona Lisa.  

As it turned out, our quest for the “real” Mona Lisa was not an easy one.  After nearly missed our appointed entry time to the Louvre due to long wait at the women’s bathroom, we roamed the halls and chambers of Le Lourvre for an hour before we found the signage to the Mona Lisa who had been moved for the third time in the past few years (maybe in an effort for better crowd control).  Slowly, a crowd started to form like the rush hour traffic of Beijing and as we proceeded we were joined by other “tributaries” and soon found ourselves almost unmovable in a river of people. 

The Dab

For another hour, we went through crowded escalators and mazes made with stentions to finally reach the Mona Lisa in a glass box with a mob of people holding up their phones in the front.  Marlon quickly did his dab in a few strategic locations and felt sufficiently satisfied for the time being.  

I wondered if anyone had experienced or pondered on experiencing the “aura” of the Mona Lisa: the true reason we were all here to see the painting instead of buying a mechanical reproduction or staring at a photo of the same production. I certainly did not as I didn’t have a chance to get even close and I was very preoccupied on including Marlon and the Mona Lisa in the picture so that we could get out of there as soon as possible.

What I found interesting though was the act itself.  In a way, Marlon was the artist doing an authentic performance art piece by creating and documenting the experience of the Mona Lisa and the mocking of the Mona Lisa with the dab for the audience who would witness the experience through social media.  The ritual of seeing the Mona Lisa is an art in itself that are unknowingly experienced by everyone there. Such ritualization is in itself a manifestation of the “aura” and authenticity of the art work.  As Benjamin himself pointed out: “We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.” 

 @thanksforbeingu 

For today’s generation,  the grand museums in Europe that store the greatest art pieces are perhaps can be simply regarded as the Instagram of the past.  For those of us who grew up in a pre-social media era, our experience of museums have also changed.  While I do appreciate the experience of visiting beautiful museums with beautiful arts and artifacts, I found myself no less inspired by art I saw on Instagram.  Despite of all the museum I went to this month in Europe, I was most inspired at this time by @thanksforbeingu on Instagram - a Korean crayon artist doing amazing work using simple colour crayons.  

I wonder what would Walter Benjamin say about the Work of Art in the Age of Social Media. Certainly, Instagram is the new “museum” in this age in time where creativity blossoms within all of us.  I believe that the impressionists would embrace the democratization of art by social media and Van Goh would probably be famous before he died had he gotten an Instagram account!