Abstract: As the pioneer and founder of media ecology， Lewis Mumford criticized machine art profoundly， and pointed out that there exists a deep contradiction between machine art and human art—machine art depreciates human artists， damages the creativity and individuality of human beings， and creates so called “art consumers” of new generation. Moreover， Mumford explored the economic and democratic requirements behind machine art. By analyzing machine art， he revealed the dilemma of machine art—the emergence and development of machine art is an inevitable consequence of modernization， which on one hand leads to the mediocrity and boredom of art and on the other hand liberates art to some extent.

Key words: Lewis Mumford, machine art, art consumption