“The situation into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated.” (Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Section II)
The Mona Lisa (Leonardo Da Vinci, circa 1503) (and its circulation in popular culture) is illustrative of Benjamin’s argument regarding the status of the artwork in the age of mechanical reproduction. I’ve posted an image of the original painting along with one of its more recent cultural manifestations.* Describe one way the meanings associated with the original painting effect the product being sold. Provide one example of how the ad’s use of digital technology changes the meaning of the original (for instance, in this ad, how do we interpret her famous smile?) Comparing this advertisement to the Mona Lisas made by modern artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements (Below Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1919), what does the ad suggest about our society’s ideas and beliefs about beauty?
*The text at the bottom of the ad reads: “Pantene Time Renewal. Restores age-damaged hair.”
Justin Deutmeyer
ReplyDeleteI would think the original painting of the Mona Lisa was meant to have a more reserved look, with the subtle smile on the woman’s face. It is still an inviting smile, but not in a forced way. The digitally altered version of the smile seems to be more of a seductive look—an exaggerated version of the original. Similar to many modern ads, she has a more exaggerated ‘come hither’ look on her face. They want you to think that the product will make you some sort of seductress. Obviously, the painting is quite old, and with them touching up her looks, her hair and smile, etc, it is telling you that if the product can do that to someone from the 16th century, there’s no way it couldn’t work for you. This ad is showing that aging is something that must be fought in any way possible. Even the most famous painting could use some touch-ups, so your haggard face of course needs some help.
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ReplyDeletePantene incorporates the 500+ year old Mona Lisa into their ad for age damaged hair restorer. Pantene is illustrating that their product can spruce up even the old classics, however damaged. The Mona Lisa’s hair has much more volume and life after using Pantene, and looks happier too. If Pantene can “improve” what many believe to be a masterpiece, then they can work wonders with the masses. I think Walter Benjamin would agree that this ad somewhat helps diminishes the aura of the Mona Lisa, through reproduction.
ReplyDeleteThe Mona Lisa’s previous, hard to gauge expression, begins to look more and more satisfied after her makeover, changing our interpretation of her famous smirk.
Duchamp’s twist on the Mona Lisa doesn’t try to enhance her appearance or sex appeal. The Pantene ad, by vamping up both of these characteristics speaks to the societal ideas we live with today, as entrenched by the media. Advertisements in every medium depict a level of desired “beauty” that everyone is supposed to work toward achieving. They depict artificial and superficial as beautiful, influencing people to try and “enhance” their looks/image as opposed to encouraging them to be happy with themselves and feel beautiful as they are. We live in the age of plastic surgery and the Pantene ad’s focus is to sway women into attempting to look younger by rejuvenating their hair.
Mike Albrecht
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The Original meaning of the mona lisa affects is beauty. Da Vinci meant to convey Beauty in the painting. The ad uses that to its advantage. Its a beauty product and by applying the new hair style to the mona lisa the ad is essentially saying that even the Mona Lisa needs this product. Its showing us what beauty today is. Her damaged hair needs to be repaired and so does your hair. I agree that this ad cheapens what the original Mona Lisa is. By making it into an advertisment it loses its humanity in some ways. The Aura is diminished to some extent.
ReplyDeleteThe digital changes made to the mona lisa change our preception of the orginal because the ad suggests that the original is inferior to this one. Its saying that this ad is perfecting the mona lisa. The colors are not as washed out as the original and her smile seems to be a result of her new hair.
The ad suggests that our idea of beauty is changing and beauty is hard to maintain with age. So they're offering a product that fixes that problem.
Nick Aldrich
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TA: Dr. Heather Warren-Crow
Chuck Zink
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Dr. Heather Warren-Crow
The original purpose and meaning of the Mona Lisa to me, is really about beauty. However, I also believe that there is an aspect of renewal and change. This painting is coming out of the Renaissance period, a period where beauty and change were glorified, has become a very noticeable piece of modern culture and also a piece that could come under a bit of reconstruction in this modern digital culture. The ad uses the sense of beauty and renewal perfectly along with what they are trying to accomplish. The ad is trying to convey that this product would make something, even as old and worn out as the Mona Lisa, feel new and beautiful once again. The problem lies in the digital manipulation of this work and changing what was originally intended when viewing this piece. The ad takes away from the simplicity and brilliance of a very plain woman, and adds, for example a new hairstyle that is more attractive and more modern than the style the woman originally had. This takes away from the original plain beauty of what Da Vinci had originally intended. All this really shows that we as a society are moving away from the admiration of the simplicity and moving towards a more artificial belief that beauty can be manipulated and changed away from the original intention of the artist.
Westley Ferguson
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Dr. Heather Warren-Crow
The product being sold is trying to show the product which they are selling repairs even the oldest of damaged hair. We see the Mona Lisa as a really old image, which the hair associated in the picture must be old and damaged. So when we see the 'altered' image, we then assume this product must really fix even the worst of damaged hair. This image is trying to sell product to a person who is unsure if a product actually works. By going to the extreme of the Mona Lisa, this shows this product must deliver good results. Current technology allows the ability to change and manipulate older images and also older pieces of art work. This ad is an example how taking a famous art work dating far back can easily be manipulated and change to deliver a different message. We normally would see her smile as more of a portrait type of pose. With the edited version, we see her smile more satisfactory, because her hair is treated and finally fixed from being damage. Even the message of the painting is different due to digital manipulation. Our ideas of beauty have been difficult to coincide with age. This product is trying to deliver to people who are having difficulty to treat aged hair or damaged hair. This ad shows that even though age is hard to coincide with beauty, our product will deliver results for even the worst of aged and damaged hair.
Scott Holewinski
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One way the meanings associated with the original painting of the Mona Lisa effect the product being sold is accessibility (Benjamin, 735). The Mona Lisa has represented and epitomized timeless beauty in the connotations of individual, social, and historical contexts. The epitome of beauty becomes accessible to those who previously were not able to. If one uses this product, then they will surely have their place in history, attaining a status of original beauty. Accessibility means that one using the product can be magical and adorned by millions as the Mona Lisa has for five centuries.
One example of how the ad’s use of digital technology changes the meaning of the original is that it creates its own definition of beauty in the connotations of individual, social, or historical contexts. This new beauty, as the ad suggests, is "updated". The original Mona Lisa appears aged, certainly in the painting’s materials, but aged nonetheless. Her skin tone is light, almost pale, and her hair is flat. The digital ad "restores" the Mona Lisa. She appears younger. Her skin tone has been darkened to a golden-bronze, and her “restored” hair is dark and full-bodied. As the ad suggests, the “age-damaged hair” is restored, thereby changing the meaning of beauty.
The ad suggests that today’s society’s ideas and beliefs about beauty are gender-specific. The “restored” Mona Lisa glows with warm colors; even the surrounding warm colors of the river bed suggest passion. Again, her hair is dark, full, and manageable, and her right cheekbone has been chiseled down toward a more pointed chin to define today’s woman. In contrast, the moustached and goateed versions of Duchamp and Dali blur the lines of gender, suggesting she is more man than woman, with Duchamp sarcastically uttering “she has a hot ass” (S & C, 198).
Severn Anderson
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1. One way the meanings associated with the original painting that affects the product being sold is the epistemic value has a been ingrained in society’s collective consciousness. Having this profound knowledge of the original gives the mechanically reproduced image a special meaning and relationship that contributes to the mass marketed product.
2. Through the ad’s use of digital technology, I find the “smile” of the original painting of the Mona Lisa interpreted as an actual smile. I have never made the presumption that she was smiling or grinning, but aside from this I feel that the use of digital technology to enhance her hair style has altered the original’s context, as Benjamin has argued about mechanical reproduction. I probably would have assumed that she was smiling if I had not known about the original and the idea that her “smile” is ambiguous to the viewer.
3. The crass and sarcastic viewpoint of the Dada movement in conjunction with the ethereal Surrealist movement urges the viewer of art to contemplate, “is art beautiful?” and “is art even supposed to be beautiful at all?” Duchamp’s version was made 500 years after Da Vinci’s and therefore holds a different epistemic context; perspective versus Dadaism. Pantene used this concept to their mass marketing advantage. In any event the digital ad has been revamped and restored and says to women that they can be this beautiful too, just look how Mona Lisa has changed her flat, decrepit, aged hair by using Pantene.
Rachel Sherinian
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Recognizable images always capture peoples' attention. The human mind is somewhat lazy, and in a visually driven world like ours, a new image has to be remarkably striking to stand out. Familiar images such as this one are already implanted in the collective consciousness of our society. Pantene KNOWS that people like the Mona Lisa, and they know that EVERYBODY will recognize her. That simply takes some of the guesswork out of their advertising campaign. In this case, the mass reproduction of images is amazingly beneficial tool .
The Mona Lisa stands for classic, subtle beauty. It is often cited as a masterwork of classical art, seemingly perfect.
The digitally altered version carries a very specific message:
"Hey you, forty-year-old woman reading this magazine! You know, you look great and everybody loves you, but there's ALWAYS room for improvement. Buy our shampoo and you'll look positively radiant."
Anybody who responds to this add is going to think, "Well, I don't want to be a classic beauty, I wanna be a knockout. I'd better go buy some Pantene." The new image is definitely more in tune with today's notions of beauty. The alteration of the color tone and saturation also add to that notion, making Mona Lisa seem more "gorgeous," "radiant," and most importantly YOUNGER. That's what this ad is all about; it plays to older women who want to look younger.
Duchamp's version, on the other hand, is simply an experiment in challenging the meaning of art. Classic paintings have long been regarded as untouchable. He was just trying to make a statement so that he might shock people out of their conventions and get them to see art in a different way. I imagine it went something like this: "You love this great work of art? Well, is she still so beautiful if I do... THIS? Haha, take that, art world!"
Mike Anderson
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The original painting seemed to have more of a mystical reverence feeling. When they made the advertisement, it turns the picture into a humorous ad. By taking this famous work of art and transforming it to promote hair shampoo takes away from the aura of the original i think. Seeing so many replicas and jokes of the Mona Lisa everywhere lessens the artistic and historical value. The ad is pretty much saying it can take old dirty hair and make it beautifully curly. In our society, it seems we have to change old, out-dated, images into things that are more appealing to the eye.
The original painting has authentic beauty and is known for its slight smile. The shampoo ad uses the Mona Lisa's fame to attract viewers. The original is a beautiful work of art with lifelike quality.The shampoo ad it is evident that they gave her tanner skin and added more of a smile.The hair is the most emphasized, with dark wavy hair.It makes it seem like she is someone of our time period.The newer may seem more comfortable for someone of this century because we are familiar with today's fashion,but it takes away all the beauty out of the work.The other painting takes the painting and simply puts a mustache and changes the background. I don't consider that art,it takes away all authentic quality.The background is cold and frigid and takes away the pleasant feeling you get when you look at it
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ReplyDeleteThe original painting of the Mona Lisa is suppose to embody beauty and mystery. Her smile which grins at you with a sort of smirk, and that beautiful landscape with Mona Lisa at it's center. She isn't quite looking at you so you don't know what she's thinking. This is what grabbed the ad makers attention. This iconic figure such as the Mona Lisa with a bouncy body of hair and a tan can sell some adds. One way the meanings associated with the original painting effect the product being sold is that you use the fame of the painting to sell the product. Mona Lisa's fame, beauty, and mystery all help to essentially sell the product.
ReplyDeleteThe way that digital technology plays into this is the use of adding hair and shades to make her look more modernized. This is the style that we conform to today, is the beautiful person. The use of digital technology takes away from the original by taking our standards of beauty and comparing it to the past. Her mystery and true beauty is lost with the use of digital technology. The aura is lost and can not be found, so to speak!
In Duchamp's depiction of the Mona Lisa he adds a mustache to the image. This is taking our standards now a days and flipping them around. I can truly say that right now is the best time to be who you want to be. Judging someone on how they look is less and less. Duchamp is simply saying that with his depiction of the Mona Lisa. He is saying, "let's look at ourselves in different way". I agree totally that our standards have changed and that beauty is an open book.
Scott Weidner
Marisela Rodriguez Gutierrez
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The Mona Lisa, being a piece of art that is instantly recognizable in our society, evokes feelings of familiarity with spectators even if the image has been altered. The alteration made on the Mona Lisa for this ad make the spectator relate to the image perhaps on a personal level because of the caption written directly beneath. The caption, “Pantene Time Renewal. Restores age-damaged hair” suggests to the reader that they too can attain the Mona Lisa’s classic beauty that has been praised for centuries. The notion of classic beauty does not only have to do with the physical beauty that the Mona Lisa exemplifies but also the reverence and respect for a certain standard of physical beauty. The advertisement then suggests that the product will help the consumer comply with the traditional beauty standard.
The advertisement’s use of digital technology creates a sense of accessibility between the work of art and the spectator, and in this sense, the possible product consumer. This altered version of the Mona Lisa, then, changes the original meaning by using the work to create social commentary to specifically make a suggestion about female beauty social standards in contemporary American culture. Perhaps the admiration people already have towards the original work of art can be transferred to this altered version. The meaning of the Mona Lisa’s smile, in the ad, can possibly be interpreted as satisfaction with her looks.
Based on this advertisement, one can say that our society’s ideas and beliefs about beauty are highly influenced by the mass media’s interpretation of high art. It can also be suggested that the mass media believes that the general public will readily accept their standards of beauty without much question especially when such a recognizable piece of art is used to manipulate these views.
Allison Corn
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Dr. Warren Crow
The altered version of the Mona Lisa for Pantene, is trying to being clever and more modern at the same time. They artist amped up the hair, and made the colors bolder and more rejuvenated so it would appeal to women of today. I think they even enhanced her smile to make her same more laid back, and less of a guessing game on what she is thinking. Her smile is being simplified to today's society rather than the intent of intellectual thought. The ad is clearly being altered to be more about what the company's ideas of what the woman would want to look like.106
Clearly this is saying that our society's ideas on what beauty is has drastically changed. The Mona Lisa was meant to portray beauty in the purest form and now we are so focused on changing from natural to what we wish we were that true beauty has been lost.
Thad Treffinger
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The original painting as done by Da Vinci is perhaps the most popular depiction of natural beauty created by anyone and perhaps the most perfect. Her flawless skin, her lady like posture, and her soft welcoming smile are known to everyone; male or female. The familiarity that we share with this painting gives us a sense of comfort and so it feels close to us. So when a product is associated with something that we already know and adore, the odds of us being drawn to that product are greatly increased.
The meaning of this painting is changed by digital technology in a few ways. The simplest of which is that it changes the viewers way of viewing the painting. The original intention was to capture the increadable nature beauty of a woman and to have that beauty admired for it's simplicity. When the image is altered, it's not about admiring elegance any more, but rather seduction, and wanting to be sexy. The colors are darker creating the illusion of soft light; her hair is shinny and full giving her more the look of the predator; the original meaning is lost or at the very best distorted.
In comparison to Duchamp's 1919 rendition It is apparent to me that our culture's outlook on beauty is very diverse. It would appear that duchamp finds The Mona Lisa to be unattractive or maybe he simply thought that she would look better with facial hair.
Among other things, the Mona Lisa is a painting widely known for beauty. It is also known on a broader basis, for being very old, which goes hand in hand with being worn and faded. This ad plays on all three of these variables. The first of course, is beauty. As stated, the original Mona Lisa has always been associated with beauty. The ad makes a mockery of this by placing the original painting next to the digitally altered one. They have taken the original and brightened the colors, deepened the shadows, and obviously changed the hair to a more modern attractive style. This brings us to the next factors, the restoration of the old painting. Simply by enhancing a few colors and adding a bit more contrast, not only does the painting look younger, but the subject herself appears to have youth-end. The altered Mona Lisa is no longer a classic beauty with a subtle smile, but instead a modern temptress.
ReplyDeleteThe ad implies that their product will take something once beautiful that is now worn and aged and make it better than ever. It is easy to see how this message would appeal to many people and why it is an effective add. The original Mona Lisa has become worn and faded with time, something that happens not only to objects but also to people.
The original meaning of the Mona Lisa is thought to be an image of timeless beauty. She is very womanly and proper while appearing to be approachable at the same time. The ad steals the idea of beauty from the Mona Lisa and uses it for itself. Now instead of it just being a beautiful woman it is a woman who is beautiful because she used Pantene hair products. This also diminishes the aura of the Mona Lisa because it degrades it to an advertisement while simultaneously reproducing it many times over (Benjamin 734). Digital technology is used pretty heavily in this. People may not realize it when they see the ad, but since the Mona Lisa is so familiar to everybody it may be realized on a more sub-conscious level. They have made her hair curly, her skin tanner, and also spruced up the background. This is basically saying to people that her beauty was not good enough before, but now that she has used their product she is good to go. Comparing the ad to other remakes of the Mona Lisa says a few things about how our culture has changed towards ideas of beauty. I would say that it is most notable that she is tanner and has curlier hair. I assume the surrealist painting of the Mona Lisa threw in the moustache as a joke(i hope).
ReplyDeleteWith the original painting I think people think of it as a master piece. I think of the painting as being a perfect painting of a woman. The mona lisa is seen to be a very unique and beautiful painting of a woman. In the original painting I find the hair to be very modest. Her hair is not flashy or even reconcognized to be significant. With the digitally enhanced image of the painting we see that whom ever altered it has given the Mona lisa a different style of hair. This style is flashy. The hair is made to look lush and shiny. The ad wants to use this very famous painting of beauty to advertise a new hair shampoo. If people already think the woman in the painting is beautiful; with a little help from computers they can enhance it to look more modern and relateable to the modern culture. It seems our society is more based on how someone looks and less on the natural beauty we all have. The Mona lisa represents a modest and natural beauty but in our society beauty is represented by material and good looks.
ReplyDeleteThe Mona Lisa is the standard for beauty of the time and the kind of beauty Da Vinci chose to produce. It represents physical beauty that is known by many, even those who are untrained at looking at classic pieces of art. If you can recognize the physical beauty of a woman so to can you recognize it when looking at the original Mona Lisa. It is through many aspects of the physical features that this is accompished. The newer reproduced ad does so in representing this in a new found way or more "modern" perspective via the digital reproduction. The ad is for a shampoo company which wants to convey the meaning of beauty through more of a glossy surface level image of beauty our current society has become accustomed to. It borrows on our pre existing opinions of beauty we already have connected to the original image of The Mona Lisa, and takes it a step further by "updating" the hair to a more "realistic" hair style to represent our views on beauty now. By changing the hairstyle in the image the company is in fact changing the original image to a more "glossy" and up to date look to fit the needs of the ad. In reference to our views on beauty, this ad leads to a greater widespread opinion that our society holds on beauty. We have now become a much more surface level, looks are everything, and only the right looks define beauty kind of scoiety. This is for example longer hair, shinier faces, skinnier bodies etc. This and many other views on beauty are perpetuated by ad's such as this, fashion people, and entertainment people alike.
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