ciara Killalea: Walter Benjamin Project with Jonathan Griffin

‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ (1935) by Walter Benjamin remains one of the most influential cultural texts of the modern era.
The text, although written more than 70 years ago, is still relevant today, and contains a wealth of ideas and reflections on the modern era that continue to inspire and excite new generations of readers. The text is particularly relevant in the fields of graphic design, moving image and digital media.

"The project will require you to interpret the text and

develop a personal response using a blend of visual,

analytical and communication skills. There are no

limits to the media you may choose to use."

Benjamin used the word "aura" to refer to the sense of awe and reverence experienced by a viewer when in the presence of unique works of art. Benjamin believed that this aura lies not in the object itself but rather in external attributes such as its known line of ownership, its restricted exhibition, its publicised authenticity, or its cultural value. With the advent of art's mechanical reproducibility, and the development of forms of art (such as film) in which there is no actual original, the art is to a mass audience, leading to a shattering of the aura.

One part of the essay that particularly appealed to me was a passage about acting. Where the actors attainment of aura is discussed. Benjamin also believed that the same principal of aura applied to acting - if you are in the audience of a theatre you are in the presence of the actors aura but that the same aura could not be transfered onto film. For aura is tied to his presence; there can be no replica of it. The aura which, on the stage, emanates from the actor and cannot be separated for the spectators from that of the actor. He quotes Pirandello:

“The film actor,” wrote Pirandello, “feels as if in exile – exiled not only from the stage but also from himself. With a vague sense of discomfort he feels inexplicable emptiness: his body loses its corporeality, it evaporates, it is deprived of reality, life, voice, and the noises caused by his moving about, in order to be changed into a mute image, flickering an instant on the screen, then vanishing into silence .... The projector will play with his shadow before the public, and he himself must be content to play before the camera.”

This is the area of the text I decided to pursue. I wanted to make a documentary (of sorts!) of the struggle that an actor has with himself. The Actor changes during the piece morphing into entirely different species, before returning to himself. The set was created using mundane household items. The lighting is quite dark in places as I wanted to create a tense atmosphere. I also chose music that created tension, Ensurance Trap by Michael Andrews and recorded Ulrick reciting an edited version of the All the Worlds a Stage speech from As You Like It. It was then edited so it would not be recognisable to the viewer. I used dominoes to represent ritual but also the unpredictable nature of acting, they are spontaneously arranged without effort but with the same ease they are knocked down by the Actor at the end of the piece.