Walter Benjamin responces

a) The history, the mythology, presence and personality could be considered the aura of a work of art.
b, c) Mechanical reproduction allowed artists to disembark from tradition and the confines of an apprenticeship. Mechanical reproduction changed the way in which all types of work were fabricated. Photography and the moving image captured reality without the need to have any particular skill. Of course there were technical aspects which needed some training but that did not compare to the decades of training needed to become an accomplished painter or sculptor who could render the world around them with simple tools and materials. This began the democratization of art. Benjamin believed that artists depended on ritual, the mystery behind the genius of art to give importance to the artist. The camera and mechanization stripped the ritual away to reveal the parasitical nature of the artist.
d) Magnetic tape, digital recording of light and sound, rapid prototyping, digital editing, rendering and programming are some of the processes which are changing the way we currently produce art.