Propaganda art vs. public art

I unintentionally brought this topic up the other night at the City Council meeting (FF: 2:44:00) during the Sculpture Walk presentation.

When a select group of individuals, let’s call them autocrats pick public art without a public process, that is called Propaganda;

As stated in the 2018 book, Remodern America: How the Renewal of the Arts Will Change the Course of Western Civilization:

“There are important distinctions between art and propaganda. Although both are forms of visual communication, their aims are completely different. Great art explores the mysteries of human experience. Propaganda seeks to influence an intellectual decision by stirring up obscuring clouds of emotionalism.

“Strong art reaches universal, shared experience by honestly presenting the results of self-exploration. Propaganda seeks to substitute that universal appeal with the presentation of ideology it assumes to be commonly held by all right-thinking people.”

Propaganda is distortion, intended to drive the audience into a pre-determined conclusion. It is far removed from the mysterious communion genuine art provides.

And here is something I have known for a very long time;

Our cultural institutions no longer provide us knowledge, education, real news, or responsible governance. We are enmeshed in an entire ecosystem of lies, sustained by the media, the academy, Big Tech, sellout corporations, and traitorous politicians. The monopoly is enforced by censorship and retaliations. You would think by observing the actions of the New Aristocracy of the Well Connected, our Constitutional Republic is dead; all that remains is for them to loot and oppress the rest of us into oblivion.

Ecosystem of Lies. Maybe we can name our next bridge in Sioux Falls that? Kind of has a nice ring to it.