The Impact of New Media on Interactivity of Modern Art: Using the Theory of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Introduction and problematic of research: The main objective of this paper is to determine the performance of new media, and to study their impact on the process of artistic production. The paper also will focus on the way art works are being presented in the new era, using Walter Benjamin approach as one of the contemporary sociological theories. This paper seeks to offer an understanding about the relationship between the nature and the function of digital media, and artistic production in present interactive age. To do so the content analysis method will be used. Nowadays, thanks to its quick exploitation of information, new media is considered as a new successor to former beliefs and rituals, and the wide gap that separated the work from the audience. It is replaced with the amalgamation between the media, the audience and the authors. The main hypothesis of this study is as follows: "It seems that according to the Benjamin theory, today's reproducible art under the impact of new technological media has changed into public, interactive and participatory art ". Accordingly, the present paper aims at answering the following question: do the new media, which provide technological facilities, enable the reproduction of artwork? And if so, is it effective on the interactive, participatory or collaborative process of new art? The paper therefore, tries to answer questions about the nature and characteristics of the new art and new media.
Theoretical framework: This study has a theoretical approach borrowed from the ideas of Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher. This theoretical approach is selected because Benjamin offers influential theories concerning the impact of the media on the art. It also offers ideas on popularization of art and mechanical reproduction of artwork. The most important theoretical section in this study engages in addressing artwork theory in the age of mechanical reproduction. Jennings and Dougherty (2008) argued that Benjamin believed that a work of art should create an interaction between man and nature. Benjamin, according to their opinion, believed that technological possibilities of the media have created new features for the work of art, that is away from sacred aura and its habitual ritual and it is closer to the political and social objectives. Schultz (2000) also argues that, according to Benjamin, new art is an authentic, meaningful creation and because of that, the art position has changed from a sanctuary and monopoly position to a position in society and social relations, available to the people and for public. He maintains that according to Benjamin, with the advent of the media, the era of myths is dead. In Benjamin theory, film and photography is considered to be an outstanding example of new media at their own era. This made possible the reproduction of art, and its public share. We have chosen interactive approach of Benjamin to media and arts as a key theoretical framework of this study.
In the analytical framework of our method, we have considered to reduce those findings that were obtained based on Benjamin's theoretical model case data. In addition, we offered an analysis of Benjamin’s theory using some example cases. Here, we studied the interactive effects of "design on the Moon", and the joint effect of "Ai Weiwei" and "Olafur Eliasson" using the theoretical approach to the ideas of Benjamin.
The sample case, that was exhibited in November 2013 in Beijing, China, has shown cooperation, interaction, democracy, the experience of doing things together, public space, contact and telepresence. This also shows that, the new media such as the web has had an effective role in the evolution of the nature of art and its structural change.
Findings and While studying the research case, we achieved a clear understanding of what Benjamin called the loss of the unity and sanctity of art when public participates in its creation. It is plausible that, with advances in media technology, sacred and inaccessible aura of art much more than before is fading away, and the new art is becoming an available art to the audience, and is interactive and participatory art.
Results of the study show that today and through the new media on the web, people around the world without needing to leave their country, and even in political terms, can participate in the process of production of art. Currently, web browsers and accompanying digital features share the ability to reproduce an artwork by sharing it with a lot of users, and this leads to desacralizing public art. The audience of this interactive work is artistic and active partners of Benjamin.
The results of this study show that, in modern times, with the possibility of mechanical reproduction of art and its popularization, art has been rescued from confinement to the corner of museums and galleries, and has achieved its social function. New art with the influence of new and digital media has become an interactive art and achieved a more social and more practical nature. Now, countless works of art are not exhibited only in art galleries and public exhibits, but the artist prefers to supply his artworks in partnership with his audiences and visitors and with help of extensive media facilities, such as high-tech computers, virtual sensors, simultaneous playback systems, technologies related to convert senses and digital signage. Today's artist, much less than before, needs to interpret his work, because the audience by interacting with the artist and being engaged in creation of artwork understand its social meaning correctly and without any intermediaries. Today's Artist, with the help of new media technologies does not want to have unidentified and passive audiences, but it tries to have a dynamic and active role in the process of creating and usefulness of a work. The research results also showed that the view of Benjamin in the field of art becoming public and available has been materialized. It also shows that media and art have now reached to some acceptable and interactive conditions. The sample case study showed that the new art, using interactions that is in its nature, and also with the help of new media, can adopt many political and protest applications, and can be used as a means of expressing social and political protests against social discrimination. This it is one of the features of authentic art that Benjamin sought in its free and original term.