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Step 3 of 6~8 min read~31 min left
The Aura Defined
Explore Benjamin's definition of aura and its philosophical stakes.
“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. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes the changes which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes in its ownership. [...] 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. [...] What withers in the age of ==mechanical reproduction== is the ==aura== of the work of art. — Walter Benjamin, 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,' Section II (1935, trans. Harry Zohn)”