Read Benjamin's essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and locate some of the issues that he is addressing almost 80 years ago that still resonate with us today. For our purposes, his investigation of concepts such as aura, originality, and authenticity are particularly useful. How do these concepts relate to the new media of his time, i.e. photography and film/cinema, and how do they relate to the digital media of our present moment?

Read Bush's essay "As We May Think." Can you decode any crystal ball thinking in his essay that may point to today's World Wide Web? What other ideas is he pointing to in this speculative work of popular science? I suggest printing out his essay and footnoting those sections that remind you of something that we experience in our lives today. Keep in mind that Bush is writing as a scientist almost 70 years ago. Try to decode his language into the language of Life 2.0 and beyond.

Benjamin's work is dated 1935, Bush's 1945. Together, they point to a possible convergence in dreaming up something like our own Internet art world, although they - and everyone else even 20 years ago - had no idea things would turn out the way they have.

For your first blog entry due no later than 5:30PM on August 28, write a 650-700 word response to the Benjamin and Bush essays that incorporate two quotes from each plus your comments on these quoted passages.