Walter Benjamin- Is Digital Media Authentic?

Walter Benjamin was a reseach syndicate as one of many homepages dedicated to his endeavours have clearly stated. "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction" is a piece exploring the present direction of Art and the Sphere of authenticity outside technical reproducibility. Benjamin questions the immediate understanding of artistic representation and the bounds to which we apply and render objects authentic. The text gives detailed insight into the drastic movement of Digital media within Art and where he believes the direction may lead us in the near future. What Art work deems more authentistic than others? I am yet to determine. If it is one thing i have learned it's that Art cannot be defined by limitations. Who should stand to reason the categorizing of skilled professionals within the Art Industry? True, artists before the likes of digital media were working solely with hands on talent and experience but Art demands change, it is with growth that makes us aspire to infinate possiblities. Digital media is anything but childs play. Individuals working within the confines of digital media (audio, visual, performance etc) definately deserve the recognition and title of artist along side the rest of creative practioners. When considering a photoshopped image and its value according to authenticity I am of two standings. If photoshop is used in a manner of process reproduction I find it holds very little authenticity to the original print. This method works on bringing out that unattained by the naked eye. If it is manual reproduction for example enlarging the item and
making minor adjustments to the original than i would consider it to hold all authenticity as to when it was captured. As noted in "The work of art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction" the presence of the original is a prerequisite to the concept of authenticity. I guess when considering Walter Benjamin's term of 'aura,' digital art work would not be possessive of such quality. According to Benjamin, the 'aura' is that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction. It is of Benjamin's belief that the technique of reproduction detaches the reproducted object from its tradtional domain. The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced.