Ideology, Art and Propaganda
By Niko Angelis
Ideology: visionary theorizing
a: a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture
b: a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture
c: the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program. [1]
Typical dictionary entries offer rather static explanation of the term ideology, one that would perhaps explain past ideologies in a "common sense" manner. Ideologies today are complex, dynamic phenomena that owe their existence in means that rely far beyond any systemic and rational application of ideas.
An ideology is a collection of ideas. The word "ideology" was first used in the late 18th century to define a "science of ideas." An ideology can be thought of as a vision, as a way of looking at things. There are many different kinds of ideology: political, social, epistemological, ethical, and so on. Every society has an ideology that forms the basis of the "public opinion" or common sense, a basis that usually remains invisible to most people within the society. This dominant ideology appears as "neutral"; all others differ from the norm and are often seen as radical, no matter what the actual vision may be.
Organizations that strive for power influence the ideology of a society to become what they want it to be. Political organizations (governments included) and other groups (e.g. lobbyists) try to influence people by broadcasting their opinions, which is the reason why so often many people in a society seem to "think alike". [2]
In this definition, obtained from a dynamic on-line encyclopedia, we come across a poignant and very explicit elaboration on the term. It is quite interesting that much of contemporary discourse often bypasses specific ideologies and their interpretations. There is an increased tendency to probe a specific ideology, one system of ideas that exploits all the rest. The spotlight on propaganda should not come as surprise, largely because of its all-encompassing, broad nature and arguably its intriguing sense of mystique and power. Walter Lippmann in the late 20’s stated that ‘manufacture of consent’ by an elite class had already become ‘a self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government’. [3]
A relationship between propaganda and ideology has always existed. The pattern of that relationship became more or less established toward the end of the 19th century. [4]
The profoundly effective alliance of ideology, propaganda and art though has been the child of the 20th century. Gradually acquiring legitimate scientific standing and efficiency, ideologies and propaganda slowly but surely have become fully integrated within contemporary culture, reflecting many aspects of life itself and further elevating their influence and status even as legitimate art forms. They incorporate, transform and project any available cultural content within a socio-economic and political context; they in turn become the content. This is exemplified by the evolution; the silent revolution brought forth through the development of mass media, especially television and more recently the internet.
Past ideologies provided the influential seeds for the creation, evolution and control of art. Political even religious ideologies not only informed the artistic expression of their respective social context but also created the models through which new art would emerge, promote and perpetuate the existing status quo. Those were times that ideologies in general were extremely defined and reflected for most of the 20th century a world highly polarized and divided. Propaganda in those days depended on art in every form or expression: from folk art to the latest style of the avant-garde. More specifically, political propaganda not only relied on the power of art to reinforce its message but also on the integrated system of censorship, an efficient procedure scrutinizing and if necessary eliminating any art that did not adhere to the principles of the establishment. In other words ideologies and their respective structures of propaganda had profound, direct and very visible effect in the use, consumption and development of art.
Ideologies are not and cannot be defined anymore simply within set theories and powerful manifestos. In fact manifestos are obsolete. Their modern equivalents are dynamic flash statements [slogans] and their symbols [brands] that are readily employed and discarded on demand. Today ideologies are hybrid systems that sustain and in turn are sustained by new ideas constantly emerging from all aspects of modern life; politics, religion, economics, environment, history, nationalism, ethnicity, culture. Ideas are not simply embedded firmly into these realms they are drawn out, interacting in an unprecedented level.
In the western world, the relationship between ideology, art and propaganda is dynamic and can be described as a recycling modus operandi, which enhances their respective roles while successfully diffusing their presence. Despite the fact that some forms of a political system based loosely on a dual division governs most countries, the actual ideologies that permeate the system itself and in effect the world have multiplied and mutated into vast complex and interdependent networks of ideas. Just like the borders between countries, cities or social/ethnic groups, the boundaries between opposing ideologies have been diffused dramatically and in other cases sharp differences have been bridged on many new levels. One could perhaps say that ideologies as we knew them in the 20th century do not exist in the 21st.
Current political structures, their symbols and residual systems of ideas are in their vast majority relics of another era. They increasingly appear as inadequate, faltering caricatures performing stupendous acts of an absurd, outdated play. Many of the expansive conflicts that are taking place around the world are better understood as ideological conflicts. Yet in our days we are not simply witnessing the desperate struggle of past ideologies fighting to compete and overcome one another but rather their concerted efforts to remain relevant; to continue sustaining their respective centers of power and the status quo they helped create; to propagate and reinforce indeed the very notion and artificial need of Ideology in its totality. Signs of such ideological battles are evident in today’s art world, which should be seen as the battleground of cultural warfare and not simply the mere reflection of a world in conflict.
Advanced capacities of contemporary technologies to project and disseminate information have brought forth new opportunities in art as a medium for advocating social and political change. In the 60’s and 70’s political and social unrest in the west was reflected in new experimental often-heroic attitudes in art. A reenactment of that era or more accurately perhaps a retrospective view of those times today is not without a certain degree of cynicism.
Contemporary art seems to lack a certain degree of passion and a vision that could be applied in a tangible collective sense. There is not much renewed faith in a new art that can truly inspire and encourage tolerance, understanding and peace. The scarce heroics of individual artists seem to bounce off the filters of daily news-events, dissipating into obscurity. Flash mobs and performance art have proved nothing more than passing trends. Too much art and splendid creativity on the other hand is either passively discarded in cultural limbo or transformed into pop show-oddity [pop-commodity].
The most powerful art imbued in sensationalism, is transformed into spectacle and therefore an easily digested commodity with diminished value and a short expiration date. What is left is an overwhelming craving for more. Here lies the great explanation of today’s artistic freedom and why there is no great need for blatant censorship. Art is freely encouraged to become indeed the great pool of ideas from which ideologies and their respective propaganda will extract and recreate new facades and forge their modern Trojan horses. Perhaps it is important to note here the importance of the archive in the form of private and public collections. Art kept in hibernation, is doomed to emerge in time lapses and assume its important and impotent historical role as eclectic specimens in out of context future paradigms.
Often referring to "past ideologies" one is simply left wondering "past, as opposed to what?" Can we truly speak today of new ideologies? A difficult yet important question as we note that simply much of what is or appears to be new today is a combination of the past. An increasingly pervasive ideology today is not new but it is simply expressed in new extremes. Most contemporary art is actually the direct product or a reaction to a renewed ideology of the self. The sense of personal freedom of an individual to explore and express the self is a persistent theme of much of today’s art and even an essential prerequisite of a cultural society that will indeed readily provide the basic means for such endeavors. This further translates into a wide, largely unabridged cultural dichotomy. On one side we have a heroic art insulated from society and on the other we have an art that has become the daily ration in a society of spectacle.
"Propaganda campaigns can occur only when they are consistent with the interests of those controlling and managing the filters."[5] In the past, "Propaganda was frequently crude and ineffective, especially in communist states lacking the technical skills of advertising, marketing and communications developed within the private sectors of a consumerist Western culture with largely unrestricted media. It has, however, been brought to a fine art in the advanced industrial economies in recent years, where the presentation of state policy and legislation has often received as much attention as its content and drafting." [6] In today’s information and service economies ideologies and propaganda rely even more on art to enhance their substance and in shaping their invisible filters.
Ideology and propaganda contrary to what is often portrayed do not rely on crude power and blatant censorship, the kinds that characterized much of the last century. Censorship for example is applied today in rather passive modes yet that does not mean it is not extremely effective. It is imperative to understand that art is not simply the vehicle for transporting ideological propaganda but it becomes essentially raw material, fuel for much of today’s ideologies and that in turn explains why today’s propaganda is so irresistibly enticing and effective. This may also explain why so much of today’s art is so vehemently anti-art.
References:
1. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Ideology
2. Wikipedia, Ideology
3. Lippmann, Walter (1921) Public Opinion, London: Allen and Unwin.
4. Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The formation of Men’s attitudes.
5. Edward S. Herman, The Propaganda Model: A Retrospective.
6. Ian Mc Lean, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics.
