Today I read the famous essay by Walter Benjamin entitled The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I found it in an odd way, while researching the term “culture of scarcity,” which brought me to a paper about late Soviet culture and consumption, which mentioned Benjamin. All this spurned by the mention of the term in a discussion with other artists about technology and culture.
Still reading the late Soviet culture and consumption paper. Totally blown away by the Benjamin essay. As a result of the latter, suddenly making connections in my head. Benjamin’s essay has given me some clues, which are relevant to me both as an artist and a person living at this time, about the feeling of disconnection I have that keeps lingering. In my experience, over time one seems to find one’s emotional, spiritual and intellectual “tribe,” but who the hell knows what the rest of the world is doing. Or, as this essay was written in 1936, we are doomed to repeat the same things over and over through one generation to the next… perhaps? A never-ending karmic cycle?
Very thought provoking.
Odilonvert 
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