Jewish Mysticism, the Commodification of Art, and the Notion of Aura in Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

Abstract

I’ve included Benjamin in this collection not only because his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” is a classic one in itself, but because of his use of the word “aura” Writes Benjamin, “That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.” On a Kabbalistic level, the “aura” is the essence of the creative spirit and is also an expression of the divine nature of man. This chapter explores the relationship between the spiritual and the origin of a work of art since the work of art is a uniquely derived personal expression of the human condition mediated by the artist.