Just Looking ...

I see the image every where- Che Guevara's face on a pin, on posters, and most frequently, on t-shirts. The fact is that iconic figures throughout history are constantly referenced and replicated by contemporary societies be it through literature, theater, film, the fine arts, fashion, etc. This reminds me of our lecture on Walter Benjamin and the mechanical reproduction of art for when considering the matter of artistic reproduction, there is always an engagement with the notion of the "original"; there is always a starting point from which all deviations, intentional or not, are made.
Surrounding an iconic figure, there is a certain aura that Walter Benjamin explains as a phenomenon of distance, authenticity, and authority. This aura surrounding the "original" is powerful, though through technical innovations the "aura" of an object can be changed to "image". Specifically, Benjamin argues that in mechanically reproducing the original the aura is destroyed.
However, there is still much debate to be made surrounding the subject of aura, icons, replications, and the distribution of power- for in transferring from the original to the reproduction is there not also transfer of power? Is the aura inherent to the icon or does it lie in the eye in the eye of the beholder?