Mechanical Reproduction's Influence on Art and Society

To predict the trajectory of the advancements in mechanical reproduction of art, and visual media in particular would be almost impossible to do accurately. This is because there is very little historical evidence where parallels could be drawn without seeming far fetched. However, Walter Benjamin in his essay Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction recalls the earliest forms of printing and on to form the prediction that these advancements that are currently happening are to happen in large intense growth spurts.
He also predicts that with these advancements including photography in particular, the originality of works will be affected. One of the largest reasons of this being that a photograph is simply a picture of a picture. This ability to reproduce original art and even alter it begins to bring up questions of what is acceptable and what is not. Benjamin suggests that when a piece is reproduced it's aura is diminished. Now, keep in mind that when he is referring to aura he is simply alluding to the feeling that a piece may give, which is one of the sole reasons of why we all choose to enjoy art in the first place. Benjamin writes that when a piece is mass produced the specific aura you may enjoy when viewing an original piece is reduced to little to none when mass-produced. In this process of being mass produced, the two values a piece may have begin to teeter. One of these being a cult value. Benjamin refers to the cult value as the moral value it has behind it and other legends the people of society may have created in order to enjoy a certain piece. However as these pieces are mass produced the cult value falls and the exhibition value rises. The exhibition value being the actual content and information a piece may have to offer. This is not a bad thing in the eyes of Benjamin. He thinks that the decreasing of cult value is a good thing for it allows for viewers to see pieces in a more realistic light. This is what I find most interesting in this paper. One may believe that the cult value is more important and causes the viewer to feel a specific aura that is the same with no other piece. However the positive side of the rise of the exhibition value is that messages can be heard and received through art. The exhibition value gives a voice to the voiceless and has the potential to reach the highest branches of society, where change is enabled.