The spirit of Walter Benjamin circles above the documentary #artoffline. The German culture philosopher argued in 1936 that the technological reproducibility of artworks changes the nature of art in an essential sense – the aura of the work could not possibly survive such doubling. Almost everyone you hear in #artoffline – philosophers, artists, exhibition makers – disagrees with Benjamin. They think that, in the era of the Internet and virtual reality, the demand for authenticity has become irrelevant. The focus on the value of physical objects is a form of fetishism, to their minds; one that is maintained by museums and galleries. Internet is actually able to liberate art – and the experience of art – and that seems to be the tone of #artoffline. It gives short shrift to the far-from-transparent art market, puts vaguely prattling curators off-side and lets viewers decide what they think is good. But aren’t we losing something if the physical artwork disappears?
