The Elusive Allure of “Aura”: Sample-based Music and Benjamin’s Practice of Quotation

Abstract

This article discusses both sample-based and electronic music in relation to Walter Benjamin’s infamous text, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” The applicability of “aura” to such music is questioned, in favour of other considerations, such as practices of collecting, remembering, selecting, and connecting. The relationships between performance, “liveness,” and technologically enabled forms of music are explored. Authors who have written about Benjamin’s text in relation to modern audio (re)production are compared and contrasted. I also reference interviews I conducted with a group of sample-based sound artists from Montréal, Canada, between 2004 and 2005. My discussion brings me to Benjamin’s use of Leonardo da Vinci’s disparaging comments about music compared with painting in the latter’s Paragone. I conclude by asserting that Benjamin’s practice of quotation is more relevant than his conception of “aura” in terms of discussing “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in relation to contemporary, reproduction-based artistic practices such as electronic and/or sample-based music.RÉSUMÉ Cet article discute à la fois de la musique à base d’échantillons sonores et la musique électronique par rapport au texte notoire de Walter Benjamin, « L’OEuvre d’art à l’époque de sa reproductibilité technologique ». Dans mon article, je mets en question la possibilité d’appliquer l’idée d’« aura » à de telles musiques, favorisant plutôt d’autres approches, tels les pratiques de collectionner, évoquer, sélectionner et échanger la musique. J’explore les rapports entre l’interprétation, la représentation et les formes de musique basée sur les progrès technologiques. Je compare des auteurs qui ont recouru au texte de Benjamin pour commenter les (re)productions sonores modernes et je mets en évidence les différences entre ces auteurs. Je me rapporte en outre à des entrevues que j’ai menées auprès d’un groupe d’échantillonneurs montréalais en 2004 et 2005. Ma discussion me mène à l’utilisation par Benjamin de propos désobligeants tenus par Léonardo da Vinci dans son Paragone envers la musique par rapport à la peinture. J’en arrive à la conclusion que la pratique de Benjamin de citer d’autres textes est plus pertinente que son concept d’« aura » pour discuter des pratiques artistiques contemporaines basées sur la reproduction telles que la musique à base d’échantillons et la musique électronique.

Acknowledgements

“…Although using anthropological methods, Puig's analyses do not go beyond mere description of the processed material. In a paper more oriented towards philosophy, Chapman (2011) discussed Walter Benjamin's concept of the "aura" and his practice of quotation. He based his thoughts regarding the creative process of sampling on interviews with sampling artists in Montréal, Canada.…”

Having the sceptre: Wu-Tang Clan and the aura of music in the age of digital reproduction

“…Benjamin's focus is on visual art forms and his privileging of material uniqueness poses a difficulty when considering the aura of music, as his contemporary Adorno observes (Chapman 2011). Adorno's analyses of music focus on textual content like melodic and harmonic development so the ‘work’, like literature, does not reside in a physical original that can be copied.…”

Research-Creation: Intervention, Analysis and “Family Resemblances”

“…by articulating connections between practices of writerly quotation and sampling in electronic music (see also Chapman, 2011), the project accomplished a production of theoretical knowledge not through, but as creation. In so doing, it highlighted the creative aspects of scholarly writing at the same time as it demonstrated the thoughtful, reflective, theory-laden processes of audio sampling.…”