The above image is the cover of the most recent Penguin Edition of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I submit it without comment because it is so damn good.
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The above image is the cover of the most recent Penguin Edition of Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I submit it without comment because it is so damn good.
November 2nd, 2008
by elaine
would’ve been better if the right edge wasn’t cut off. just sayin’.
November 2nd, 2008
by Jesse
The Author
But that’s the whole point! There is a text and the spine only fits X times. And then it is cut off. Mechanical reproduction. Could a machine see that?! No! The answer is no.
November 5th, 2008
by elaine
well, the whole point of mechanical reproduction is to achieve perfection.
November 10th, 2008
by Jesse
Really? I thought efficiency, not perfection, was the point of mechanical reproduction…among other things.
December 1st, 2008
by elaine
not necessarily, especially in terms of art making. as i’m sure you know, many artists became concerned with removing themselves (and the evidence of themselves, i.e. brushstrokes, fingerprints, etc.) from their art and creating something flawless and calculated instead. to me, the sliced edge of this book cover seems to suggest human error instead of the mechanical anonymity those artists were trying to achieve. did lichtenstein fuck up his dots? no.
i really have no idea what benjamin even writes about here, though. i should probably read it.
December 1st, 2008
by elaine
that damn edge really pisses me off, p.s.