WHAT IS REALITY?
WHAT IS REAL?
DO YOU FIND YOURSELF ESCAPING YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, GAMES AND FILM?
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
LIFE IS SHIT, RIGHT?
SO MAYBE THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THESE METHODS
THAT WE STAND BY.
EXPLORE WHAT YOU KNOW
AND WHAT YOU DON'T
QUESTION YOUR EXISTENCE EVERYONE ELSE'S TOO
CAN YOU TRUST YOUR SENSES?
ARE YOU CONVINCED YOUR REALITY IS REAL?
In this essay, I will explore different perspectives of reality and examine how other thinkers interpret the world. Reality can be subjective. It could be defined as everyday existence, knowledge about the external world, or even what one perceives to be 'real'. But what is real? Through my work, I have come across different philosophers, scientists, and artists who have researched and questioned the meaning of this term. I will explore humanity's questioning of our reality and why we constantly theorise about reality to explain concepts beyond our comprehension. I will investigate whether the ideas behind these theories are plausible or have been created to comfort us as a method to escape mundane, postmodern, conventional lives.
In this context, I will use the term 'postmodern' to refer to societies with individualism, and populations made up of people who believe they are each unique and autonomous of higher control. The 21st century allows individuals to pick and choose their lifestyle, creating their identities through their choice of careers, cultures, styles, hobbies and so forth. The populations usually live in urban environments repeat the cycle of commuting only to work and home. There is a sense of disconnection with the world - especially as technology and robots have started to replace workers. The postmodern world is wildly diverse, sometimes creating tension between groups with different beliefs. It is bombarded with images and information, such as advertisements, television, film, social media, and the news, which all create a personalised view for each person, depending on what they ingest. The overload of mass information makes it hard to know what to believe and what sources to trust, sometimes resulting in humans questioning the truth behind all knowledge and reality.
The Philosophical theories of Plato, Rene Descartes, Hilary Putnam, and Walter Benjamin, conclude that the perspective of the external world differs between individuals. I will discuss how their ideas have impacted my thoughts and work. This paper will use Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation' as a key text, with his theories being the foundation of some of my practical work. Moving onto a slightly different view of reality, scientist Nick Bostrom's Simulation Hypothesis will be discussed, a theory looking at the likelihood of the world being simulated. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be explored, alongside AI-created art, questioning its value with references to artists Ed Atkins and Thomas Ruff. Finally, I will use Hito Steyerl's 'In Defence of the Poor Image' to discuss views on the creation of art and the value of images.
Plato's Cave Theory in the Postmodern Era
The postmodern world has an excess of information available for consumption. Our minds are constantly stimulated with data through the internet, social media, and advertisement. We process so much data that sometimes it can be hard to determine what is true and false information. This overload creates a distorted version of the real world. It deceives us from perceiving it, resulting in people basing their opinions and beliefs on something they have often been exposed to unwillingly.
An allegory which relates to this idea is Plato's cave theory, which summarises human deception. It comes from his work 'Republic', and uses it to show the influence of knowledge and beliefs on humans. The story is of a group of people who have lived their entire lives chained to a wall in a cave which is only lit by a campfire, and all they have ever seen are shadows on the walls of a cave, which are projected like a puppet show by other men. Because this is all the prisoners have ever seen, this is their perception of reality. "To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images" (Plato, Jowett, 2013). One day, one of the prisoners is set free, he is shocked by the fire in the cave and then is sent outside of the cave, where his eyes adjust, and he sees the real world. The man returns to the cave, astounded, to tell the other prisoners, and as his eyes struggle to adjust to the dark, the other prisoners believe he seems crazy; they mock him for leaving the cave and threaten that they would kill him if he were to make them go out.
Plato's cave deals with discovering truths, deception, perception, and reality. It is still very relevant today as it can be interpreted widely and linked to modern-day society and contemporary philosophical theories. The prisoners can represent the average person; the puppeteers can represent any authority or power structure, such as the media, religious figures, politicians, or world leaders, showing a warped perception to keep the population passive. Plato describes the journey as ignorance to enlightenment. In the Republic, Plato scripts his conversations and asks, "What sort of knowledge is there which would draw the soul from becoming to being?" (Plato, Jowett, 2013). In the postmodern Western world, the population is led to believe that concepts such as money, fame, and high status are the most important for a successful life, which is the opposite of using knowledge to find meaning in being. People are encouraged to be ignorant using these sources, becoming mindless and obsessed with status symbols. Plato suggests that enlightenment will only come if we begin to think differently, reject these systems and learn to find true importance in the world. I believe that people are ignorant of their own ignorance, a paradox where they are unwilling to change their beliefs, mentality and behaviour. Referring back to Plato's allegory, the populace imitates the prisoners, threatening bodies of individual thought and social change.
HELLO.
YOU HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE HAVE YOU?
GOT SUCKED INTO EXISTING,
WITHOUT PROPERLY NOTICING
THE REALITY OF THIS,
MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WORK, TV SHOWS, THE MEDIA. TRAPPED IN A BULLSHIT IDEA,
OVERWHELMED BY IT ALL
SO YOU THOUGHT YOU'D DISAPPEAR.
BLOCK IT OUT.
BLOCKED IT OUT.
AND IT WORKED FOR A BIT
BECAUSE YOU'RE GOOD AT BLOCKING SHIT OUT
GOOD AT PRETENDING THAT THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
BUT YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER
BECAUSE I KNOW YOU
QUESTION EVERYTHING
AND EVERYONE TOO
OTHERWISE, WHAT IS THE POINT OF EXISTING?
Understanding Reality through Cartesian Skepticism, Putnam's 'Brain in a Vat' and 'The Matrix'
Discovering truths about the world means letting go of ignorance and being open to new ideas and perspectives, questioning concepts which we inherently believe to be true. René Descartes was a philosopher in the 17th century, who explored ideas related to this. He was famous for his 'Cartesian Doubt', a method of doubting all knowledge, also known as 'Cartesian Skepticism'. Skepticism is the concept of disbelieving everything you know until you can prove that they are true. Descartes uses an allegory of a basket of apples to demonstrate this idea. The basket potentially has rotten apples in it, and to avoid it spreading to more, the most reasonable thing to do is to empty the basket and then individually check each apple, returning it to the basket only if it is not rotten.
Descartes did the same with his beliefs, eliminating all knowledge until he found beliefs where there could be no doubt so he would know for certain that they were true. He concluded, making the famous claim "Cogito, Ergo Sum", "I think, therefore I am". He stated that it is the only absolute we can know because 'I have to exist if I am thinking'; without a thinker, there are no thoughts. So, we know we exist, but what about the world around us? How can we prove that the external world isn't just fabricated? Descartes claimed that perhaps an evil demon constantly deceives us, making us believe our senses and creating a complete illusion of an external world. This theory may seem implausible, but the underlying idea has merit. Hilary Putnam's Brain in a vat theory reflects the same idea but in a more modern and advanced manner.
Imagine one night, there is a man who is asleep; a mad scientist enters, sedates the man and performs brain surgery. The scientist takes the man's brain and places it in a vat, which can keep it alive. The brain is then wired up and connected to a computer that can send messages that produce the same electrical impulses the man usually experiences. This means his brain is deceived into perceiving whatever the computer sends. Imagine looking at a flower, the information starts at the flower, which is seen by the eyes, and the brain then processes that information to create an image of the flower. However, with Putnam's theory, the man would not need the flower or his eyes (or his entire body) to create the image of the flower, he would just need the artificial information the computer is sending to him. This can be applied to many other activities, such as listening to music, eating food and exercising, because the computer would be able to make your brain experience anything with the right stimulation. The computer creates deceptively real experiences and emotions too, because consciousness is based on processes and impulses in the brain. If this theory was proven to be true, then it may seem like life is empty and meaningless because what is the point if a person is not truly experiencing life the way they have always thought. This is a daunting but exciting concept that I feel is worth discussing.
Putnam's theory has influenced me to think that perhaps nothing in life is real so individuals should strive to pursue happiness whatever the cost. The capitalist world avoids views like these because it would affect behaviour and change the systems used to control the mass populations as consumers. I believe that it could deconstruct artificial concepts such as beauty and ownership, which are two aspects of modern-day culture that determine how powerful a being might be because they relate to money and unrealistic standards. For example, a person who is more beautiful will get more in life. Without these beliefs, the population could strive to place less value on reaching society's utopian expectations. However, I also believe there could be the other side of the spectrum, where the world would become more dangerous with criminal radicals and abuse of power, because if life is artificially constructed, then repercussions wouldn't matter.
The theory has become more popular over recent years and is the underlying premise for the 1999 science fiction film 'The Matrix'. The film is about intelligent machines that keep humans in pods and use their bodies as their source of energy. Whilst the bodies are unconscious in the pods, their brains are linked into a simulated reality called 'The Matrix'. This world is indistinguishable from the 'real world', and it is not until brains are 'unplugged' that they are freed from the simulation. The film uses Jean Baudrillard's book 'Simulacra and Simulation' as a reference and all actors were required to read his work before filming. However, it has been released that Baudrillard didn't like the film and claimed that The Wachowskis missed the point.
"The Matrix is surely the kind of film about The Matrix that The Matrix would have been able to produce" (Baudrillard, 2003).
In an interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, Baudrillard spoke of how the film misunderstood his book 'Simulacra and Simulation', and that there is too much of a distinction between the real and simulated world. The film's underlying message is to do with the dangers of technology and how we should live for freedom, humanity, and love. However, by creating the film using new and complex editing techniques, the creators contradict what the film is attempting to criticise. The Matrix is an excellent example of how questioning reality is entering our lives more, the film sparked much thought and conversation about the subject. It raises the idea that we have the choice to live through technology or to face the real world. Again, this relates to a postmodern society, where we have become engrossed in the digital world, with most people relying heavily on their smartphones to complete the day. Technology has allowed urban populations to live much more comfortable and accessible lives, it has made certain aspects of life much easier, but with this comes laziness and ignorance. It is the resolution and source of all our problems.
BUT I GET IT
I GET WHY YOU STOPPED QUESTIONING
IT'S A BIG THING TO FEEL
THAT EVERYONE ISN'T REAL
FROM YOUR MUM,
YOUR SISTER,
YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS,
TO THE CHICKEN SHOP MAN JUST DOING HIS TRADE.
YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IT'S REAL
YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THEY'RE REAL
BUT YOU'VE COME BACK TO THIS THINKING
BECAUSE A PART OF YOU
EXCESSIVELY FEELS THAT'S NOT THE DEAL
Simulacra and the Blurring of Reality
French philosopher, Jean Baudrillard, wrote of issues related to reality, technology and the media in his most famous piece of writing: 'Simulacra and Simulation' (1981). In this book, Baudrillard explores different topics that exemplify his concern with the image of reality, symbols and contemporary society. He claims that human experience is no more than a simulated reality because we have been replaced with signs and symbols which have no meaning.
Simulacra can be defined as a copy which had no reality to begin with and therefore, no longer has an original. It is something which replaces reality with representation. Baudrillard opens the book with a quote, "The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth – it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true." (Baudrillard, 1981, page 1). He states that this quote is from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, but this is never actually said, which is the perfect way to open his book as it holds no truth, yet as readers, we accept it and move on. We have the same response in our postmodern lives: We accept and believe most information we read when it is sometimes based on opinion, false data or fiction. The simulacra cannot reflect reality because it is not based on reality, it can't even hide reality, but it can hide our understanding of our lives. Simulation is harder to define because it is a process, and there is nothing outside it, but it can be defined as an imitation of a real-world process or system. He uses an analogy of an ill man to explain simulation. A person who is genuinely ill may just lie in bed and not present any extreme evidence of being ill, whereas a simulator would show classic symptoms making it harder to tell if he is actually ill or not. This allegory presents how simulations have the ability to make separating the real from the fake nearly impossible.
One of the first examples Baudrillard uses in his book to explain the concept of Simulacra is an analogy to do with maps. If we could create a map of an empire that was so precise in terms such as scale and details, then it would become too difficult to separate the empire from the map at some point. He states that this is no longer relevant for us as we have started to create something which doesn't even reflect our reality; we cannot distinguish the real from the imitations - like Google Maps, specifically street view. He calls this Hyper-reality. Baudrillard claims, "Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being, or a substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal." (Baudrillard, 1981, page 1). Meaning that when representations are so realistic, it is impossible to tell the difference between them and reality. He states that it appears in advertising, cinema, television, and higher education. An example he gives of this is Disneyland, these fictional worlds are put in place to distract society from the outside simulation, and within these colourful walls, customers become immersed in this world. "Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real" (Baudrillard, 1981, page 13). He states that these parks are used to make adults feel like children again, promoting the idea that when you leave those walls, you must be adult again, when in fact, "childishness is everywhere" (Baudrillard, 1981, page 13) and the real world is based on fictional ideologies.
The idea of hyperreality is interesting to me and I agree with Baudrillard's points, linking again to the twisted postmodern society we live in. Disneyland is a great example of this, proving how people are attempting to escape their everyday lives due to the monotony of postmodern capitalist society forcing individuals to live the same day over and over. The theme park gives a sense of hope and freedom, a change from the norm. Alternate realities offer the same kind of escape from the mundane. Whether these realities are virtual or purely thought experiments - like Plato's and Putney's - the different perspectives on reality create an exciting new outlook. Different realities make us question what is the purpose of living. What makes us happy? What truly matters? Because in another world, we may have it all. Perhaps populations would choose hyper-real over real.
Baudrillard moves on to define how signs can transition into a simulacrum. There are four phases:
- Reflection of reality: This image has a good appearance, it is a faithful copy, and its authority is accepted as it resembles the real-life equivalent. He calls this "The Sacramental Order". An example of this could be a video from a music concert, as it is a true and faithful copy of the event.
- Reality is masked: This phase masks the original message and becomes an unfaithful copy. He calls this the "Order of Maleficence". An example could be holiday companies showing a consistently beautiful and sunny destination, whereas this is most likely a distorted view of the resort.
- Absence of reality: This stage shows a cover-up, signs pretending to be faithful copies representing reality, but the original concept now does not exist. It is an illusion. An example of this could be a practice fire drill, where you are signalled that there is a real fire by alarms going off and everyone acting as if it were real. These signs convince you there is a real threat when it is just a rehearsal.
- No relation to reality: This sign can only relate to other signs. It is its own, as Baudrillard puts it, "pure simulacrum" (Baudrillard, 1981, page 8). An example could be Steven Spielberg's 'Jurassic Park' where the characters encounter dinosaurs who went extinct millions of years ago.
I have been using this theory as the basis of my practical work, using each phase as a step of the process. Using photographs as phase one, painting the photographs for phase two, painting the painting for phase three and finally, painting the copy of the painting for phase four. I have found exploring this theory through my work very interesting because I have discovered it would take many more steps for my work to create something which is hyperreal. The steps I have taken show change and development, but the development of the work has shown me what a long process it must be to go from an original to creating the hyperreal.
Baudrillard writes of simulations in television. He claims that reality television programmes are absurd because the cameras would have too much of an effect on the people starring in them, so the idea of reality is lost completely. He explores the idea that television creators and viewers are defined within the same collective because viewers model themselves on what they are watching. Creators change what they are making to fit viewers. "TV is watching us, TV alienates us, TV manipulates us, TV informs us" (Baudrillard, 1981, page 32). We have as much influence over TV as it does over us, so we should not think of it only as a power that affects us, and gradually it becomes an example of hyperreality. The influence goes back and forth between viewers and creators until the understanding is lost. Baudrillard discusses how television contaminates cinema and falls into the same trap.
He is very pessimistic about the media and discusses that the coverage of social movements by the media actually neutralises them. He reasons that it creates a simplified representation which cannot transform or evolve. It devalues the event into a simulation revolution and creates an artificial solidarity which onlookers mistake as real. He debates the impact of mass media on people, particularly in advertising. He argues that it exists to manipulate and test its target audience. Products no longer function or serve us but instead, we serve them. Baudrillard's theories compare billboards to surveillance cameras, claiming that they are always watching us but also reflect a commercial, idealised version of what we should be.
"We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning." (Baudrillard, 1981, page 79).
Baudrillard considers three hypotheses:
- Despite the media trying to inject content into us, information is coming at us too fast for us to process it.
- Information is too purely technical and is, therefore, meaningless, similar to code.
- Information directly destroys meaning and significance. The loss of meaning comes from the action of information and the mass media.
Reality Check, Jasper Morrison, 2022
He states that the third option is the most interesting but goes against the common opinion that "information is thought to produce an accelerated circulation of meaning" (Baudrillard, 1981, page 79). He states that information is meant to be transmitted in the name of communication, but perhaps it just exhausts itself to this end resulting in an absence of communication. He questions whether this escalates the simulacrum or whether the simulacrum initiated the failure to communicate authentically. This explores the hyperreality of communication and meaning. By exploring the concepts of hyperreality of communication and meaning through Baudrillard's theories, I agree that there is a loss of meaning in the postmodern world. People are overwhelmed with information and have become incompetent communicators. I use the example of London, the city centre is overloaded with advertisements, signs, billboards and brands, there are hundreds of people around, but there will be little communication between these strangers. Public transport is another case of this being true, it is rare ever to have a conversation with people you share a bus with. This idea was the foundation of my project 'Reality Check', where I explored the masses of people who have individual realities and lives without saying a word, specifically on London buses.
Reality Check, Jasper Morrison, 2022
MAYBE BUSES
WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO START.
OVERLOOKING WHERE I'M NOT
BUT COULD BE
I'VE LOST COUNT HOW MANY STOPS
TOO MANY PEOPLE
ALL WITH NAMES, MAYBE FAMILY AND FRIENDS TOO
I COULD TELL THEM MY NAME
NOT THAT THEY'D REMEMBER
OR THAT'D IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
CARRY ON AS YOU WERE
Understanding 'The Simulation Argument'
Nick Bostrom's Simulation Argument claims that human existence is a simulated reality, like a computer simulation. He explores his theory by questioning the probability and breaking it down into three possible outcomes, known as the trilemma. He states that at least one of the following is true:
Human civilisation will go extinct before reaching this level of technological knowledge.
Humans will lose interest in creating simulations which can create conscious beings.
We are living in a simulation.
The theory relies on probability, but Bostrom claims the idea is simple. If the first outcome is not true, then that means that humans have reached a level of technological maturity to create simulations. Then, even if the second option is true and civilisations lose interest, there would still be several people who remain interested, these people would have already created simulations. Therefore, meaning there are potentially many more simulated people than non-simulated, these simulated beings would have very similar experiences to us. By rejecting the first two options, we are left with the third, that we do live in a simulation. Bostrom states, "we are probably one of the typical simulated people rather than one of the exceptional non-simulated people" (Bostrom, 2013).
He goes on to say another possibility is that there may be civilisations within these simulations that are advanced enough to create ancestor-simulated worlds (worlds within worlds), creating levels of simulation. This is only presupposed by the idea that the developed humans creating synthetic worlds must have an enormous amount of computing power. Therefore there could be an "astronomical number" (Bostrom, 2013) of these worlds.
Unlike other Philosophical arguments that attempt to prove that the external world does not exist, or that we're not dreaming, or we are not brains in a vat, Bostrom's argument does not start from a position of doubt but by assuming the world is as it is. It uses current knowledge that computers are developing and will continue to and attempts to predict science's future capabilities. However, Bostrom is aware that we do not have sufficient evidence for the three options, so we must be open to all of them equally.
Bostrom argues that there is an appeal to creating simulated consciousness, and if humanity was at the stage of technological maturity, he believes that we would be doing it. He gives the example of computer gaming and how people would play virtually if they could.
IT'S ALL A BIT MUCH
I MEAN,
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT
AS FUCKED AS I HAVE?
ALL THESE PEOPLE
HAVE A 'REALITY'
ALL THESE PEOPLE
DOING SOMETHING
CONSTANTLY
WOULD HAVE TO BE A PRETTY BIG COMPUTER TO RUN IT
BUT IT'S DOABLE
AND MAYBE I BELIEVE IT
Artificial Intelligence in Art
When initially researching Nick Bostrom's argument, the concept of the simulation hypothesis and looking for related artwork, it was hard to find artists whose work linked to the context. I was often led to AI art (work created by artificial intelligence), which seems like a very exciting idea. Simulated creations can sometimes look better than human-created art, which made me think of Baudrillard's hyperreal. AI art often leads to testing how well the bot can express emotion, pushing to see how life-like it can go. It makes me question why we are testing these limits and why we are so fascinated by artificial intelligence when we could be creating this work ourselves. Something else I found interesting when researching this is that if we are simulated, we are now creating artificial intelligence that imitates human beings - creating simulations within a simulation.
Ed Atkins is a contemporary artist who creates unsettling, surrealist digital pieces using moving image and virtual art. He bases most of his work on his writing, which he then uses to create his videos. "I wouldn't call it poetry but it was kind of poetic stuff" (Atkins, 2017). His videos create a strange and uncomfortable atmosphere that explores issues of representation, society, intimacy and narcissism by combining sound, spoken words, animation and artificial imagery. Despite the characters in his pieces having all human and life-like features, they are simulated, which Atkins has compared to online avatars. He explains that we live fake and happy lives online, whereas the characters in his work present the brutal truth of life and feelings. This shows irony in his work because he uses simulated characters to reflect a different reality. Atkin's methods of creating have influenced my work. I have been using poetic writing as a foundation and integrating the written word into the moving image pieces I've created.
Ed Atkins, Ribbons, 2014
Reality Check, Jasper Morrison, 2022
Hito Steyerl's 'In Defense of the Poor Image' (2009)
After more research into art discussing these topics, I found Hito Steyerl, a German filmmaker, video artist and theorist. Her art mixes fact and fiction, CGI, humour, and surveillance. In her famous essay 'In Defense of the Poor Image', Steyerl describes a poor image as a copy with bad quality and low resolution. "As it accelerates, it deteriorates. It is a ghost of an image, a preview, a thumbnail, an errant idea, an itinerant image distributed for free" (Steyerl, 2009). It seems essential to Steyerl to address that the image is circulated, which moves and changes often, she references digital networks where images are often copied, compressed and remixed. The context of her essay reminded me of Baudrillard's views on the overload of imagery and signs in the postmodern world.
Steyerl questions, 'What is the political value of the poor image?'
The first value is through social class analogy. She compares poor images to the lower end of political hierarchies. This is an example of her showing her Marxist view, referencing the Marxist term 'lumpen proletariat', which is how lower-class groups lack class consciousness.
Another political value is how the reproduction of poor images makes them more accessible, despite the potential deterioration of the quality. Steyerl also explicitly references Walter Benjamin's book 'The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility' (1935). Moreover, she shares a similar interest as Benjamin - that art is revolutionised as it becomes more democratised with reproduction, especially in photography. Steyerl states that cinemas are a high-end and sometimes inaccessible way of viewing art, whereas DVDs, pirated videos and poor images are more accessible with respect to the lower class. Similarly, how Benjamin explains the same concept but in terms of museums with original paintings compared to photographs of the same paintings.
Another reason why Steyerl values poor images is to do with their aesthetic hierarchy, they undermine traditional standards of authenticity and beauty. She brings ideas of how the cinema world is corrupt with "national culture, capitalist studio production, the cult of mostly male genius and the original version" (Steyerl, 2009). She moves on to question why filmmakers are usually fixed on using 35mm film cameras rather than digital ones to shoot with, she states it is so much more expensive to use film, but perhaps it is a state of tradition and technicality.
Steyerl claims that the poorness of an image measures how much it has been circulated, she says it reveals more than the look and content, showing the condition of the image and the class value within the society of images. Poor images become poorer when they are copied repeatedly because compressing the information creates degradation. Steyerl shows her interest in the poor image because it is not passive, it has the freedom to change, and she values them higher than other images because of this. I agree with Steyerl to an extent, as I believe that art and images will seem more 'real' if they are easily accessible because they could influence more viewers and could represent more artists' perspectives. Alternatively, I think that it is important to consider the context where the image would be viewed. Online images are shared and circulated freely, justifying why they can result in poor quality, but paying customers at a cinema, for example, have an expectation of the service, meaning they should receive a film of high quality which is not pirated.
MAYBE I AM HERE
MAYBE I AM NOT
BUT ARE YOU ACTUALLY STOOD THERE?
STUPID ME THINKS THAT YOU ARE
(NOT)
HAVE THIS DRINK,
TASTY?
OF COURSE I MADE IT
WITH LEMON AND APPLE
BUT NOT REALLY
The Aura of the Original: Walter Benjamin
In his book 'The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility', (1935), Benjamin explores the history of art and what happened when art was made more easily accessible and copied, especially through photography. He questions ideas of value, such as what would happen if he were to photograph a famous painting, reproduce it and then place it across the world. He also explores the value of photographs as they are automatically copies, unlike paintings, which have originals. He uses the word 'aura' to describe the feeling that only comes from viewing an original piece, the sense of presence when standing in front of it. The aura is lost when an artwork is copied and reproduced. For example, seeing an original painting in a gallery would produce a more powerful aura than seeing a photo taken of the piece would. The essay questions the political value in pieces and claims that the more something is photographed and reproduced, the more democratised it is - since it has become much more accessible. Benjamin is enthusiastic about photography and film. He states, "Film is the first art form whose artistic character is entirely determined by its reproducibility." Film is not an original and in theory, has no aura, this is because sets are constructed, actors' performances are not continuous, do not happen in front of you and are sometimes heavily edited (slow-motion). He claims that because of this, film is the art form most capable of improvement. Although art is constantly changing and has changed from movements like Traditionalism to Modernism to Postmodernism, it is the aura that keeps pieces unique.
An interesting part to note about Benjamin's work is that film and art were not as developed in 1935 when he wrote the book. However, his arguments seem even more relevant now than perhaps they did before because there is even more reproduction due to the advancement of technology and sharing on the internet.
The concept of the aura is essential to my work because it relates to reality and what is in front of us. Benjamin argues that a true feeling of aura may come from a physical painting, not a copied or digital version. I disagree with this as I believe that aura could be the symbol which values art, the more aura it produces, the more authentic and 'real' it is. I reject Benjamin's view on film, as I believe going to the cinema could give some people more aura than a theatre show, despite films being nothing but reproduced - as Benjamin believes. From this idea, it is then possible to argue that reproduced photographs may have the potential to create aura too, meaning that they are as real as physical, original versions. I have explored this idea within my practical work by painting photographs and questioning whether the paintings create any aura because Benjamin argues that photographs have none, so what about painted photographs?
Thomas Ruff, a German photographer, is an example of an artist who uses reproduction as a crucial part of his work. He has a series of photographs where he finds tiny and data-compressed images on the internet and then scales them up. This creates a very pixelated outcome, creating a poor image. His work reminds me of both Steyerl's and Benjamin's theories because it explores reproduction, copying and the creation of poor imagery. Ruff's work is relevant because it can be questioned that aura is lost from his pieces as they have been reworked and reformatted so many times, creating a twisted reality of the pieces.
Thomas Ruff, jpegrl104, 2007
How I Might Be, Jasper Morrison, 2023
Reality Check
This essay has been an in-depth analysis of alternate realities and how postmodern society has created an appeal towards fabricated worlds to escape the mundane every day. This paper has explored different perspectives of reality through various theories from philosophers, scientists and artists. Including Plato's cave theory, Descartes' 'Cartesian Skepticism', Hilary Putnam's 'Brain in a vat' theory, Nick Bostrom's 'Simulation Argument', and Jean Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation'. Discussing these theories has raised questions about the nature of reality, the reliability of knowledge and the possibility of an alternate reality. I have also discussed the value of art and how changing technology can shape our understanding of the links between reality and representation, referencing Hito Steyerl's 'In Defense of the Poor Image' and Walter Benjamin's 'The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility'. Both texts consider how reproduction warps the realities in images and art by exploring the degradation of copies.
Alternate realities urge individuals to question their current reality, which can cause distress as it highlights issues and limitations in the world, such as the power systems in place or the use of technology which warps perspective. Baudrillard's hyperreality was used to explain the blurred line between representation and reality and the comparison to London presented how this theory can be exemplified in the real world. These theories continue to be relevant as the postmodern city is developing into a simulation, the overload of information through digital billboards, signs and media is used to twist the perception of reality to control the population. Linking simulation theories to Hito Steyerl's work supports the relevance between art and reality, exploring how art can offer new perspectives depending on the quality of images and that poor images are 'freer' and liberating within capitalist societies. Just as alternate realities can offer different viewpoints, art that rejects reality opens the possibility of escaping mundane society to experience a world that may be relieved from conforming to postmodern systems.
In summary, the appeal of alternate realities is a complex and multifaceted topic, and it is vital to continue to question and explore the nature of reality in our rapidly changing world. Postmodern society presents busy, overworked individuals living repetitive lifestyles, engrossed with technology and disconnected from each other. Alternate realities offer an escape from this monotonous lifestyle, relieving stresses linked with money, beauty, and work. However, this escape also raises questions about what is true and what is real. It forces individuals to confront the idea that their belief systems may not be as accurate as they believe, impacting the comfortability of their modern life. It is essential to be mindful of the impact of technology, media and power structures which can warp the understanding of reality.
Ultimately, I believe the appeal of alternate realities serves as a reminder of the importance of critical thinking, self-reflection and the power gained from constantly questioning and challenging our understanding of the world, no matter the discomfort this may cause. Additionally, I believe that even if the external world is not real, it's what I perceive and experience and I accept that. Therefore, I plan to enjoy my time, put my energy into the people I care for most and experience as much as possible to live a worthwhile and happy life by my own standards. Questioning reality can be a valuable tool to achieve mindfulness and offers an opportunity to feel grateful for the reality we have been given, as well as allowing individuals the opportunity to ascertain what is important in life.
I encourage you to find comfort in the discomfort of contemplating alternate realities.
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