Marxism, Reproduction and Aura

Marx, "Capital" excerpt;

● Utility = value ≠ the amount of labour required ≠ & = commodity presents use value and exchange value

● Labour twofold nature - use value cannot confront each other...

● Bodies of commodities = matter + labour

● Value in commodity A exist in relation to commodity B

● Labour creating value for a product is a value itself

Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction";

● No identical reproduction in a work of art due its missing presence in time and space

● Aura of art is reduced when it is mechanically reproduced

● Uniqueness = inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition

● Films makes you unable to think; your thoughts are replaced by moving images compared to an arrest by a painting

● Public is an examiner, but an absent-minded one

Critique of Digital Capitalism Chapter 3

● Illusion of infinite resources of the digital production without any real expenditure

● Aura of info: separation of the meaning present in a work from the physical representation of that work

● Capitalist paradox of escalating value - constant demand to create more commodity value in order to extract more wealth from society ….

● Digital copies are all identical originals

● Rejection of real expenditures required…

● Limit of a digital work not based on time but rather on its availability within contemporary tech. Obsolete > emulation

● Digital - accumulation and management problems

● Illusion that digital is immaterial

● Reproduction is the source and vehicle for a work’s aura

● Aura of digital suggests magical production without consumption = digital capitalism and elision of capitalism

● Abbing: Art became less obscure, more accessible and thus less magical because of technical reproduction

● Aura is extended through copies rather than diminishing. Authenticity becomes a meaningful value once there are reproductions of an art work, similar but identical in appearance to their source

● Art with dual nature: history testimony and the relationship of that object to the tradition that produced it = physical and spectator’s knowledge

● Uniqueness of IP: right to read than own a copy

Conclusions

● Theories are lenses that help to see, analyse, and dissect our world. There is no “correct” theories but ones that help us see things with clarity better.