I really enjoyed my workshop/tutorial today. My lecturer was really engaging had lots of ideas and though provoking responses. It was interesting to see how people interoperated the workshop task.
One girl looked at the 'fabric' of the city. Specifically looking at pavements and how most of the pavement stones apart from the curbs are shipped over from China. Scottish stone is more valuable and bought from us by countries like Canada. It led to a healthy debate about how to we see Scotland? What does it mean when were in Scotland but were walking on Chinese stone and our "Scottish" gift shops are stocked by items made in China? I found this idea really refreshing and ironic.
I asked if it would be best to wait until all of the lectures were over before picking a question for the essay. The overall thought was if theres one that already stands out and 'takes your fancy' well thats the one to go with.
On that note I have chosen question 9
In his assessment of the impact of photography on the visual arts, Walter Benjamin claimed that: ‘…that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.’ What is meant by the term ‘aura’ in this context, and should we regard its loss as something to celebrate or as a matter of regret?
When I first read the questions this one stood out. Then I noticed it was specifically linked to photography and was put off a little as I don't know much about that subject. However, the theme is the impact/pros/cons of manufacturing which I have an interest in learning about. So to prepare I have bought 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin to read and research.
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