Far from making the work of art obsolete, the reproducible image gives it a new kind of value. It is not quite the case that the original and the copy become indistinguishable. But it is the case that their relationship can be reversible. The copy can precede the original. You see a reproduction of something and that makes you want to go see the thing of which it is the copy. […] But the thing to pay attention to is that the copy creates the provenance of the original, not the other way around. The copy not only precedes but authenticates the original.
Wark, McKenzie.”Digital Provenance and the Artwork as Derivative.” e-flux journal 77 (2016), accessed December 16, 2016, http://www.e-flux.com/journal/77/77374/digital-provenance-and-the-artwork-as-derivative.
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