The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Benjamin Walter believed that new age reproduction techniques had diminished the essential value of an artwork. The replication was not in anyway similar to the ways of our ancestors who manage to replicate works of art and maintain its aura. In fact, the ways we reproduce works now make them meaningless. The aura which gives a piece its wow factor has no jurisdiction in these copies. Benjamin believed this was a result of the images being removed from their own setting and being place into foreign mediums and media. I agree with Benjamin's ideas that replication taints the value of a given artwork. For example, the Mona Lisa painting gathers thousand of tourist without  problem. This one painting and all of it original essence captivates the world and for it to not even be finish makes it even more captivating. However, it would not come near the same level of admiration if there was a hyperrealistic poster of it mounted on the wall. Replication has removed the originality and magic of artwork. Thus, a replication could never amount to being on the same level as an original.