Benjamin urged the masses to exchange aura-laden art for touchable, entertaining art

Evidence

What Benjamin hoped the masses would achieve was an exchange of a form of art which had an aura, i.e. which was distant and untouchable and which could to a certain extent be appreciated in an individual dream mood, for one whose aura had been destroyed, i.e. a form of art which was close at hand, which could be touched, and which could be appreciated as a diversion, as entertainment. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 227

Categorization

• DEFINE: Carefully defines ‘aura’ as distance and untouchability in a dream mood, then defines its destroyed counterpart as nearness, touchability, and diversion — the core conceptual pair of the artwork essay.
• XREF: Connects to the mechanical-reproduction thesis in the chapter body and to any prior highlights on aura’s ‘semblance of distance however close’ an object.