Essay Question: When is art propaganda? When is it not?
Part 1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one’s group.
And art, IMO, is any form of creation as a means of expression. Who creates without expression? And when is expression ever neutral?
Personal or political, if you share your art, isn’t it propaganda? Aren’t you hoping to change the way people think about something, even if it’s only yourself?
Do you have thoughts? I know this is wide. Answer widely. and please excuse my lack of academic understanding.
Part 2.
Are you turned off by artists who are/seem really “political” or constantly pushing a message/cause? Sometimes? Always? Why? At what point could you consider it propaganda? (Consider, for example, the length of the spectrum from SuperBowl commercials to campaign ads. Are they really that different?)
Please answer in the comments here. This need not be overly wrought. define art for yourself, define propaganda for yourself, and then tell me where their relative intersections lie for you, and how you feel about that/how it affects your support/how affected you are/how you are affected by any form of what you define as art.
Filed in art | Tagged with propaganda | Comments (3)3 Responses to “Essay Question: When is art propaganda? When is it not?”
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this is obviously a bad question.
Hello,
I have written many essays on this subject and may write another for submission this post. For the moment, the short answer version.
There’s a very clear distinction.
Art is honesty. The real. The lack of lies and deception. All creative en-devour that is other than honesty, is artifice, including propaganda; especially politics and propaganda.
Unfortunately, creativity has been exploited to such a great degree, for the purpose of propaganda, that in general, people don’t see much real art – and don’t know much difference between art, and deception – - honesty and artifice. Thus, a question such as this great one put forth here by Amy, is even relevant.
Art is honesty. Propaganda is art’s antithesis.
Dirk
thank you for responding just when i’d started thinking i was ridiculous and naive for even considering the question. your answer seems so obvious, but to me, the more i think about it the more confused i get.
i would love to read your other essays.