In this reading Walter Benjamin talks about the forms of reproduction starting with art. How it has advanced in a technological way from just drawing of figures to actual images as well.

Of the three important aspects one that jumps out to me in the beginning is the concept of reproduction. Benjamin talks about how anything that mechanically was made had in some form been produced by man made skills. It could have been a form of art, or woodwork. For the advancement of technology some took longer than others to be able to reproduce. Like wood working and carving were the first of its time. Eventually it was about to be reproduced once man learned how to make woodcarvings. The reproduction of print came long before that and was possibly the greatest at making mass reproductions although it did take some time. I think that reproduction is so important in history because a log of people were able to learn of a new technology and being able to create the same products or art works, could bring cultures together and give a form of similarity to each other.

Secondly another great contribution in this article is lithography. It is another form of reproduction, but the first of its kind. Instead of using wood they figured to use stone, which would give a more direct process of copying the design. This is important because as a good to trade or buy it made it more appealing to the dealer. Having stone made the product quantity go up in large numbers but it also allowed for different designs as well so not all were one in the same. It also was able to keep up with printing which illustrates how successful it had to be in its own right. Even though years later it was surpassed by photography I think the only way they get to this advancement was from seeing what lithography was capable of doing.

Thirdly I think the most important one is a little more general but you do not get it with out the contribution of reproduction, lithography, and photography. That is change the way these developments were able to shape a new type of technological print and resources. These devices changed history and culture. In the beginning art was man-made drawings and scripts done by hand. That was all people knew at the time. But for people to see how far technology and reproduction had come changed their perception on what art was, a long with what art could be. It allowed people of different cultures to adapt to one another as they saw advancements in art and printing technology together.

Two aspects of the reading I did not completely understand were first off the definition of art, and why this was all still considered to be a type of art. I realize were it all stemmed from but I feel like at some point the word art is old considering the advancements that have been made with this technology. I feel like it should be a new type of art or way to create and record the same designs in a new process. Also how mechanical reproduction can do justice to art? I just don’t see how the two can go hand in hand except for the fact that they both end up making some type of design or reproduction. That part just confuses me. So as I finish I would like to ask if there could really be a tradition of art anymore? It seems like there shouldn’t be a tradition of art but a new pioneer of technology that should be accepted.