The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)

THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL reproduction is physically and formally chameleon. There is no longer a clear conceptual distinction between original and reproduction in virtually any medium. These two states, one pure and original, the other imitative and impure, are now fictions. Images, sounds, and words are received, deconstructed, rearranged, and restored wherever they are seen, heard, and stored. What has happened to the aura surrounding the original work of art, so prized by generations of collectors and critics? Digitalization transfers this aura to the individuated copy. Artist and viewer perform together. The dead replica and the living, authentic original are merging, like lovers entwined in mutual ecstasy.