Kayla Salyer, Benjamin 9/17

"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" (Benjamin 2012, 39) Walter Benjamin describes the shift in perception which causes the production of photograph and film. This production causes a loss in the 'aura' of art, and mass production will have unknown consequences.

The question that comes to mind is; due to the loss in aura, is our perception of the world changing? We can see that the shift in perception caused the uprising in mechanical objects, but could it affect how we perceive our world? With this loss of originality our world must be different. Through politicizing art and the mass production of art, the opportunity of corruption and falsities must be on the rise. If nothing is original then all aspects of our lives could be altered with the conception that they are either authentic, or exact replicas of original works. This would cause need for verification, yet the verification is not pure or original, so it must be altered in some way. This cycle must cause a new way of thinking, a shift in perception. 

This does not only affect us on an individual level, but also a global one. With mass production rising rapidly, the ability to manipulate people must be rising at a rapid rate. The mass production of media, advertisements and the stem of false information must cause a shift in how people view the world and the trust they have for the new system that has taken over; the mechanics. Looking at it from a different perspective mass production may cause an explosion of creativity mass exchange of 'new' ideas.

I believe that the question asked must be open-ended because new perceptions may still be unfolding every moment. This display of mechanics is just beginning, and originality is drifting away faster than we may realize.