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The authenticity of a piece of art is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its testimony and its substantive duration, to the occurrences of its history (Thomas, 2001, p.64). Authenticity refers to the artwork's presence in time and space, and its unique existence at the place where it happens to be (Thomas, 2001, p.64). The presence of the original is paramount to the concept of authenticity (Thomas, 2001, p.64). While mechanical reproduction may not actually touch the work of art, it is believed that the quality of the artwork's presence (or its authenticity) always depreciates (Thomas, 2001, p.64).
A work of art has always been reproducible (Thomas, 2001, p.63). Men have always been able to imitate man-made artifacts (Thomas, 2001, p.63). Around the beginning of the 20th century, technical reproduction represented something new (Thomas, 2001, p.64). The ability to reproduce all transmitted works of art had profound effects on the public; and technical reproduction had also become known as its own artistic process (Thomas, 2001, p.63). Key artistic theorist, Walter Benjamin, declared that 'that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art' (quoted by Thomas, 2001, p.64). Benjamin believed that making reproductions substituted a plurality of copies for a unique existence, and thus a 'tremendous shattering of tradition' had occurred (quoted by Thomas, 2001, p.64).
Benjamin often talked about 'perspective' and 'reproducibility,' which were, for him, concepts related to the representation of the real (Rush, 1999, p.170). There are no longer agreed notions of the real; rather, the digital world is becoming a new reality for which a new critical and aesthetic language must be developed (Rush, 1999, p.170).
Technology raises issues of authorship and the very uniqueness of the art object whose 'aura' is lost in reproduction. (Rush, 1999, p.168). Digital technology, for which the computer is the basic tool, embraces all areas of contemporary, technologically involved art, from films, to synthesised music, photography, CD-ROMS and much more (Rush, 1999, p.170). The new possibilities of digital technologies render the image infinitely malleable (Rush, 1999, p.170). Once transferred to digital language in the computer every element of the image can be modified (Rush, 1999, p.170).This has led to issues of art forgery and art plagiarism which have increasingly plagued the art world since technologies which enabled reproduction were introduced (Dutton, 2003).
Many of the most often-discussed issues of authenticity have centered on art forgery and plagiarism (Dutton, 2003). Art forgery involves artworks whose history of reproduction is misrepresented by someone and presented to an audience, often for financial gain (Dutton, 2003). Often, the art forger paints or sculpts a work in the style of a famous artist and passes it off as being the actual work of the famous artist (Dutton, 2003). In order to achieve this, sometimes the defrauding seller forges a signature or produces a false certificate of authenticity (Dutton, 2003).
Art Plagiarism occurs when one pretends that words or ideas which belong to another are their own (Dutton, 2003). An example of this is when one puts their name to a text written by someone else (Dutton, 2003).
Books
Thomas, J. (ed.) (2001) Reading Images, New York: Palgrave. ISBN 0333765400
Rush, M. (1999) New Media in Late 20th-Century Art, New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500203296
Web documents
Dutton (2003) Authenticity in Art, retrieved October 28, 2005 from http://www.denisdutton.com/authenticity.htm
Benjamin, W. (1935) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, retrieved October 28, 2005 from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm
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