The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign. (3)to-process
its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be (3)to-process ❧ The authenticity?
the quality of its presence is always depreciated (4)to-process
The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced. (4)to-process
what is really jeopardized when the historical testimony is affected is the authority of the object. (4)to-process
We define the aura of the latter as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. If, while resting on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the aura of those mountains, of that branch. (5)to-process ❧ The aura of natural things involves the particular distance, time, and other conditions that make it so very authentic.
The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public. (14)to-process
War and war only can set a goal for mass movements on the largest scale while respecting the traditional property system. (19)to-process ❧ War maintains the capitalist conditions of property
War is beautiful (19)to-process ❧ War is aesthetic; there is pleasure in it.
I mean, some of the most moving and appealing movies are about war, same with video games.
This is the situation of politics which Fascism is rendering aesthetic. Communism responds by politicizing art. (20)to-process ❧ War, and rendering it aesthetic (by Fascists & Capitalists) propagates capitalism.