Originals and Reproductions: The Influence of Presentation Format in Adolescents' Responses to a Renaissance Painting.

How do the responses of young viewers to an original painting compare to their responses to photographic reproductions of the same image? This research is a qualitative examination of the responses of 14-year-olds to a Renaissance painting presented in three formats: the original work, a postcard reproduction, and a digital reproduction. The findings suggest that both originals and reproductions can be the source of meaningful experiences for viewers and that there can be considerable consistency in young people's responses across presentation modes. Nevertheless, the data also show that the varying visual qualities of the different formats can ultimately lead to diverging responses and interpretations. Moreover, the findings indicate that, next to the physical qualities of an image, cultural notions about the value of originals and reproductions can also influence spectators' experiences.Experimental studies that measure viewers' preferences have, thus far, dominated the empirical scholarship on originals and reproductions. In contrast to prior research, the findings of this study provide insights into the experiential dimensions of students' responses. Before going deeper into the research, however, it will be helpful to examine the terms original and reproduction and what they say about the way Western society perceives art.Originals and Non OriginalsChallenging OriginalityWhen people consider an object to be original or authentic-as opposed to a reproduction-it means that it is "of the authorship and origin reputed" (Barnhart, 1962, p. 452); that it is in the form given to it by the artist (Schwarcz, 1982); that it is the real thing; or that it is one of a kind. Classifying a work as an original presupposes the potential existence of others like it that are not originals: copies, imitations, and reproductions, which, in many cases, are considered to be less valuable than the original (Mullins, 2005).But the idea of a single, highly valued, original artwork vis-a-vis a less valuable non-original is easily challenged once one leaves the realm of postmedieval Western art (Duro, 1991; Gaskell, 1991; Schwarcz, 1982). Think, for example, of the ancestor shields created by the Asmat people of New Guinea in Indonesia. These shields are warfare instruments that have the additional function of protecting people against malevolent spirits. In some regions of New Guinea, artists have created ancestor shields following the same process and using the same carved motifs for generations. Different shields can thus resemble each other closely, regardless of their maker's identity (Konrad, Sowada, & Konrad, 2002; Rockefeller & Gerbrands, 1967).For the Asmat, however, the worth of these shields is not based on formal, expressive qualities or on the embodiment of individual artists' visions, as is common with postmedieval Western art.1 Rather, the value of an Asmat shield is inseparable from the protective spirit that it embodies, from the power that its motifs grant its owner, and from the role that it plays within the life of the group (Konrad et al., 2002). To an Asmat innocent to the ways of the West,2 considerations about which shield is an original, which is a copy, and which is more valuable than the rest would be meaningless indeed.The primacy of original artworks is also challenged by certain works within the Western tradition, saliently those created through mechanical and digital means: photographs, prints, cast sculptures, and new media art, for example (Schwarcz, 1982). As Walter Benjamin (1968) pointed out, a mechanical process such as photography can potentially yield an endless series of identical copies-or endless originals. The same holds true for printmaking, sculpture-casting, and digital media. As is the case with Asmat shields, distinguishing an authoritative original from lesser copies based on an object's physical properties is futile with much mechanically and digitally produced art. …