Third response entry: Performing the Moment

This article discusses the debate of photographic reproduction as art. Walter Benjamin claims that photographs take works of art out of context, and create a distance of the viewer from the aura and the authenticity of the work of art. This is true. If one were to see the Mona Lisa in person, whether or not behind thick bullet proof glass, they will get a sense of awe and excitement, but when they see on of the billions of photographs of it, they won’t feel a thing.
The article then describes how the term “trace,” (a term for etching upon the body), for photography came from a Chris Burden performance where he was shot by a friend with a shotgun. Then, as reproductions of concept, other artists have done less harmful and less permanent things to their body before taking pictures of it.
The article then goes on to explain the evolution of documentation of art, meaning the video camera. This allowed artists to perform real time. They no longer had to use still shots. One such example of an odd way to do this is from The Surveillance Camera Players, who use New York’s surveillance cameras as their own. Their work is to protest the breaking of the 4th amendment by authority. Photographers, however, have not all succeeded to video. Gerald Slota and Dan Ragland are incorporating performance with photographs in a different way. Instead of taking photos of performance, they are performing actions on the photos themselves. Just by ruining the photos with chemicals and scratches, I don’t think that makes very good art, whether it’s performative or not.

Here is a Q&A about photography and news crews as performance art:
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0021jB