Weaponization of Art
Have you ever questioned yourself as to what is the reference point for your way of living? Some of you may rely on a religion, a culture or a social structure or family. But have you ever wondered where the foundation for these frameworks lies? Taking into consideration the topic of the article, you might have guessed that it is Art. Yes, but the purpose of this writing goes much deeper than that.
Since our childhood, every one of us has heard some or the other type of stories, parables, mythological tales, or epics and legends in poetry or had them interpreted in the form of spoken word. But how are these stories and the visual and musical depictions of these stories and their intricacies having an impact on our lives?
My purpose of this article is to map the connections between what is appreciated as art and how it has a deep impact on the public perception of reality, and how such art is being used for programming and controlling of the masses. A true creative artist is he or she who can see with his/her mind’s eye and express what is not apparent to the physical eyes of anyone. A true creative artist is he/she who can see possibilities where others don’t see them. Behind every 3-dimensional structure, there is a blueprint of a design that was first seen by the architect in their mind’s eye. Behind an epic there is a poet who first envisioned the layout of where the protagonist and the characters of the epic are taking the story to. The audience and the spectators go along with what is provided to them as the material for perception and most often than not get emotionally involved with it. And that is exactly where the power of Art comes into picture. Art has the capacity to reach people in an intimate way and move them emotionally. Art provides them with a place for them to relate with, deeply. Art is what helps people identify with and give them the opportunity to feel a sense of belongingness with something greater than themselves. That is the reason why Art is often associated with the culture of a social set up.
However, the power of Art is not merely limited to its ability to create a space of Empathy. Art can also subconsciously influence the viewer or the spectator in perceiving their reality by acting as a reference point. This aspect of art can be most profoundly felt in the mindset of the cultural and ethnic groups which have a sense of likeness in their perception of reality.
Now, something as powerful as Art which has the capacity to make an intimate impact on people has the potential also to direct the audience in making common inferences in the situations that impact society, especially since the people of a certain social group already have a more or less similar perception of reality. With this having said, it is not rocket science for anyone to imagine that Art acts as the most seamless vehicle to reach an entire society with a common message intended to evoke a desired emotional reaction.
Since the bygone ages, in every culture there is evidence that artists in the fields of architecture, sculpture, poetry, music and art have been in the close circles of the rulers and emperors. This continues even to this day. Though some of those rulers may have had an admiration for the mystery of the Artistic inspiration, we cannot deny the possibility of the rulers having it in their arsenal as a tool used to maintain their power and authority over people.
Artists driven by the motives of fame and fortune are capable of playing a strong role in building belief models for public consumption to forge their perception of reality for the maintenance of the people’s dependency on authority which is instrumental for the continuity of authority’s power and control over people. Any new belief that authority deems necessary to be instilled into the public’s mind, it is through arts that such can be accomplished most effectively and with least resistance from the people. Mighty endeavors of remodeling of societies have taken place across the world in various ages of history. It is happening even to this day. And Arts have been playing a crucial role in achieving them.
Every new belief that may have been otherwise confronted with resistance and opposition has made its way into contemporary social beliefs. The ideas that led to those beliefs may have been carefully penetrated into the society by way of creative artistic mediums like poetry, art, music, theater, or movies. And while the public may have been consuming those ideas with a general lack of seriousness, the collective perception of the public towards them has been softened into compliance, when they were realized as a collective reality of the society. Hence, my statement about Arts being used as a tool for mass programming and controlling of the masses.
I sincerely hope that you have found value in this article and gave you a glimpse of the subtle influences that Art can make on humanity and help you learn to have a keen eye towards the underlying meanings and messages that are being conveyed through Arts, to the public even without them knowing about it.
The following is one of my recent poems.
My Poetry My Weapon My Victory
I haven’t risen from my ashes,
And awoken to my divine nature
As the Poet surfing
The unknown tides of oblivion,
Simply to conform with a world
Hell bent on crunching
every semblance of human intelligence.
A world in which POETRY’s disregarded,
neglected, or taken for granted,
is a world speeding towards devolution.
A world in which POETRY’s reduced
to nothing more than amusing wordplay,
is a world clung to, by degenerates.
POETRY is the silk thread,
The beauty of which is “FELT” within the SOUL.
The strength of which reminds us
of our origins as human beings,
And the power of which is transcendental.
POETRY is the PURPOSE of my battle,
My WEAPON and my VICTORY.