On Walter Benjamin's much cited article

I think this concept of the aura and authority of artists being destroyed by technology and the abilities of mass distribution is a valid one. So do a lot of other serious thinkers when it comes to this widely regarded piece. There is no centralized place to view unique works of art and as a result, it brings down the mystery and the value of art as a whole. However, there was one thing that Benjamin wasn't counting on, and that was the arbitrary effects of the speculative market on maintaining that aura. It persists to this day.