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Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

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Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#221

Post by ivan_gammel »

rdtsc wrote: post #197
ivan_gammel wrote: post #85

Not the first time when the Default Country thinks they invented everything. The title is almost comical. Modern art, as everyone should know, started in 1860s in Europe inspired by technological advances, globalization of trade and cultural exchange. Japanese art made huge blast, photography pushed to seek new forms of expression, social progress demanded new messages and new images. We had impressionism, post-impre…

I think you might be reacting to the title only. The claim in the article is better phrased as “the Modern art was psy-op-ed by the US govt, especially through CIA”. They didn’t invent it, they may not even liked it personally. The very same artists making these paintings were not too far from being left leaning and sympathizing with regimes and ideas US government fought against. Nevertheless, it was still worth it,…

Jain. If you leave only the facts, it becomes a bit boring, because everyone did that and continues doing so via various institutions. But the article pitches with the title and first paragraph a different story. And I doubt that e.g. Picasso was aware of the battle for his mind.

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#222

Post by scarecrowbob »

tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

I wish those actions made the folks doing that "better" instead of implicating beautiful parts of my childhood in their vicious attempts to keep the entire world under their thumb...

The obvious problem is that when the same group is committing vicious crimes and horrors, it's very hard to look at about anything they do and be like... well, at least folks were getting laid during Midnight Climax.

"Oh, hey, that's cute: the vicious monsters who torture people to death in a global network of black sites are manipulating us again by exporting pleasant videos of puppets teaching children".

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#223

Post by rayiner »

tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

Modern art sucks, and displaced art that is beautiful. Huge net loss for humanity.

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#224

Post by foolinaround »

jaredandrews wrote: post #214
foolinaround wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what do mean with the example of thailand and thai food, and why is that a psy-op? Every country tries to subsidize and dump excess production of stuff they produce

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-surprising-reason-that-t...

wow, did'nt know. but thats brilliant!

however, i did wonder at the decor at my local thai restaurants and they were definitely using some ethnic pieces, and now I realize...

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#225

Post by WD-42 »

trgn wrote: post #206
WD-42 wrote: post #18

I don’t know if this is a reaction to AI or something, but recently I’ve only been interested in classical/realism art. I just can’t do abstract cubes anymore. The default wallpaper of windows 11 is a perfect example - I hate it. Give me a wallpaper of some painting from the Renaissance.

i wonder about this too. modern art (the cubes etc) always had a cerebral, iconoclastic, anti-bourgeois element. and i think those are just markers and categories that have no meaning anymore in 2026. everybody's smart now, watching ted talks, with their college degrees. iconoclasm is just corporate branding now at best, and we've all witnessed its literal expression since 9/11 and blm, which is quite vile and steepe…

That is an interesting thought. To me I think I think my brain is being re wired to appreciate effort. Not saying there isn’t modern art that doesn’t take effort. But paintings from the masters is a good place to start.

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#226

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #223
tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

Modern art sucks, and displaced art that is beautiful. Huge net loss for humanity.

[deleted]

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#227

Post by tech_ken »

rayiner wrote: post #223
tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

Modern art sucks, and displaced art that is beautiful. Huge net loss for humanity.

Idk I think it's kind of neat

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#229

Post by JKCalhoun »

rayiner wrote: post #223
tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

Modern art sucks, and displaced art that is beautiful. Huge net loss for humanity.

"… displaced art that is beautiful."

Photography did that.

I didn't used to like pop-art, op-art, etc. I do now.

I suspect most things new take a while to sink in.

Re: Was modern art a CIA psy-op? (2020)

#230

Post by scandox »

rayiner wrote: post #223
tpurves wrote: post #202

Literally the best possible kind of psy-op. Same with translating Sesame Street and distributing it to 100s of countries. Same with countries like Thailand exporting Thai food. It's a psy op based on what if we took nice things from our country and subsidized distributing them to the rest of the world, our country would grow in prestige and soft power. And these strategies are usually pretty effective, not to mention…

Modern art sucks, and displaced art that is beautiful. Huge net loss for humanity.

All art requires growth and change. Artists can't go on doing the same things forever. Will they take a turn into some dead end...sure. Maybe even for centuries. But remaining static is certain death.
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