OBJECT PROJECT

©1994 Stephanie Cunningham
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Like other prior technical advances, digital media invites criticism of the authenticity of the art form. Object Project is a musing on Walter Benjamin's essay, ”Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Benjamin states, “The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity.” A digital reproduction is identical to the original rendering the “aura” of the original obsolete.

Yet digital copies are still frustrated by their means of mechanical reproduction; varying monitors and printers may never produce two identical prints. For this project a digital object was created and posted on the web. Viewers were invited to create their own print, sign it, and mail it to me. The diversity of prints created multiple originals.