Benjamin talks about the change in our conception of the art object that is brought about by reproduction technologies. Considering the relationship between the original and the copy, he assigns to the original the aura, the sum of historical events that have left a mark on the materiality of that object. This is what copies do not and will never possess. However, he also considers the aura as a means to sustain a fascination for the past/tradition. In that sense, he considers such a reverence for the original object a potential pathway to fascist behaviour (the text itself was written in 1934 as an address to the Institute for the Study of Fascism).

His answer is to offer reproduction as a means to include the broadest public in the appreciation and appropriation of art. He suggests that distributing copies, and allowing any individual to be featured in reproducible materials (i.e. amateur photographs and amateur films), is a necessity for anti-fascistic democratic behavior.

(meanwhile, moxie 模写 relies on 'transmission by copying' )

Making copies has been frowned upon in Western art history ever since the figure of the artist as solitary creator has emerged. This appearance is marked in part by Giorgio Vasari's opus: The Lives of the Artists, in which he depicts the biographies of the artists of his time, essentially giving them a specific status. That status was based on "uniqueness", as opposed to only "skill".

Incidentally, Vasari is also the one who orchestrated the construction and design of the Uffizi palaces, one of the first modern museums. What happened then, is the separation of the artist from the artesan: the former working on unique pieces, while the latter was working on generic designs. The mastery of skill, along with new storytellers like Vasari led to the emergence of the artist as a lone genius. Created by such an artist, the artwork also acquires unique aspects.

Today, museums are built around the core idea of preservation: that there is one original which needs to be safeguarded, because it has lived through history, and perhaps bears its marks. The assumption is that, without this original component of tradition, there would be no following pieces, and no tradition.

documenting lives of people, providing one's own point of view

the virtual museum takes the new function of objects, and uses it to recreate a world, one that originates from the editor/curator.

modification of objects through scale

• collage
• feed/social media profile
• portfolio
• tryptich
• moodboard

This imaginary museum places the emphasis on the creative act of curation, rather than the production of artworks.

By forcing them out of the context of the museum, and re-appropriating them, these works of art undergo a kind of metamorphosis, through the change in size, in zoom levels, in juxtaposition, in continuity. This is a precursor to the moodboard.

digital reproduction exacerbates the tension between the original and the copy, between the proof and the memory.

the value of the artwork becomes more dependent on the context

the role of the curator/editor increases relative to the creator