KimmiHanceDESMA9

The first event I attended this quarter was “Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate,” at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica. Selected artists wrote a love letter to a fellow member of the art community living on the East Coast. The primary concept of the event was to create a “transcontinental heartbeat across America.” The artist living on the West Coast received letters from artists across the country and interpreted their love letters through a live performance.                                                           Me at the Annenberg Community Beach House T he performance took place on the sand of Santa Monica Beach close to the water. On the sand were several stages made up of buoys marked in a circle. Though the stage was marked, the interpretation of the letter began far outside of the s...

Walter Benjamin’s, “The Work of Art in the Age if the Mechanical Revolution” is a piece that explores the possibilities that technology has allowed for modern society, specifically in the arts. Walter focuses on the topic of mechanization which refers to machines replacing human labor. Though this piece was written in 1936 it still holds many truths and is very influential in today's society. I believe that this still continues to be relevant today because of the power and influence art has on society.    Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" In 2023 and with the rapid increase in popularity of artificial intelligence Walter Benjamin's ideas are even more important. For instance, recent news has revealed that the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards admitted that his photo was generated by AI.  In his essay, Benjamin states “The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition....