After reading "The Mind’s Eye, What the Blind See"

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
Helen Keller

In my opinion, sometimes blind people see things more wisely and precisely than others. When they are blind, they don’t judge people by appearance, but they “see” people more clearly through listening to their tone, feeling their emotion, and knowing their behaviors. Appearance always brings bias and stereotype, and sometimes the appearance is far from the essential. Sabriye Tenberken said she “sees” in terms of colors. Everything is represented by a different color. In my opinion, if a color can symbolize the characteristic of an object, the image in Sabriye’s mind is probably closer to the truth, just like the article tells us: “He describes walks with a sighted friend on which he was able to visualize the country side more precisely than his friend. He knew when the river would bend or when the sun would get into his friends eyes as the were climbing a hill before his friend would.” Moreover, when people are blind, they will not pursue the purely visual pleasure, including violent scene on the screen and the luxury cloth design. Thus, they live in a more practical life style, and they are less likely to be confused by visual stimulation. In the East Asia, people always believe in blind people’s foretelling, although it is a common superstition, but it also shows that blind people are considered to be more wise and conscious.

Some understanding of Benjamin's "The work of Art, in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

After reading Benjamin's "The work of Art, in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", I think Benjamin's attitude toward reproduction, aura, mass and modern arts is very interesting. I try to conclude the points I got as following:

First of all, the mechanical reproduction took away the aura of traditional arts. “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. (P221)” In Benjamin’s opinion, the authenticity and awe are the two essential contents of “aura”, and he felt pity that the aura of of the work of art was reduced by mechanical reproduction.

Secondly, Benjamin is a Marxist. In his mind, “people” is more important than “aura.” It means, although he thought aura of arts was important, everyone’s accessibility to arts is more meaningful. Art is no longer high culture which only belongs to rich people. Mechanical reproduction brings democracy to art, and allows mass to access art and even participate in the art production. For example, everyone can listen to music via video, TV, walkman, ipod or internet. Benjamin said in his book, “today there is hardly a gainfully employed European who could not, in principle, find an opportunity to publish somewhere or other comments on his work, grievances, documentary reports, or that sort of thing. (P232)”

Thirdly, “shock” is instead of “aura.” For example, movie as a kind of art is constituted with more realistic contents, which makes the viewers feel astonished and shocked. This kind of art can help people better understand the reality of today’s society.

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