"When Paradise Arrived" (1988) Charcoal on Paper by Enrique Chagoya
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Ever since Emperor Trajan ordered
his famous column depicting his triumphs in the Dacian wars, erected in 113 AD,
the history of art has focused its attention in making narratives out of events
from mythology, religion and human history in general. Of course history
painting and sculpture existed long before 113 AD, but this column certainly
foretold things to come, mainly the art propaganda.
Emperor Trajan's Column, 113 AD
As we all know, the retelling of
a story comes with an agenda and after all, history is written by the victors.
Throughout the age’s kings, popes and the powerful elite decided what was going
to be created and celebrated in art and today is no exception. Every artwork is
subject to the economic forces of its own time. Any successful artist that
pretends to live off his art, knows this and often has to paint or sculpt for a
patron the ideas that indirectly of directly promote the power structures of
their time.
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Of course there is space for dissent and revolutionary art but as
soon as this art is discovered, accepted and adopted by the powerful and elite,
the art itself is transformed, re-packaged and redistributed by the same
institutions it once voiced against and therefore the meaning of it is
irrelevant as it becomes just another empty commodity. This is self evident in
mainstream contemporary art. A good example of this in music is hip-hop, which
once represented the voice of the marginalized urban communities; it then
became corporately owned and as much of the mainstream music today is influenced
more by the market than by pure creative spirit.
Pinocchio Heroin By Jose Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros
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It is not so different with the
all too well known Disney re-telling of ancient legends, myth and Grimm brother’s
tales. By this re-branding of the classics, Disney becomes the owner of its
content, stripping the recorded place, event or person from its original
meaning. By repackaging and disseminating
their own sanitized versions of the stories of Hercules, Pocahontas and Aladdin
they sell a product that removed or waters down any vestige of the original narrative
in question. In doing so they replace it with an empty shell deprived or any
thought provoking content, serving a corporate driven agenda that intends to
homogenize and generate passive consumption and cultural perceptions on all
level of our society and at a global scale. Its success lies in the fact that
they make beautiful pictures easy and pleasant to grasp that reach out to the
masses in ways traditional literature or art cannot compete with.
"Disneyfication of a Hero" (2010) Oil painting on canvas by Patrick McGrath Muñiz
Acquired by the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History
Its magic resides in its
manipulation of beauty and distortion of values consolidating patriarchal gender roles, perpetuating racist views and always elevating the rich, glamorous and vain over the poor,
disenfranchised and different, despite its claims to the contrary with its "updated" revisions. It preys
on the innocent spectators as well as on their parents who give in to the power
of persuasion while selling us a “family oriented” experience or product. It is
also not hard to find evidence of the mind stupefying strategies utilized by the
corporate giant as it controls a big chunk of the mass media conglomerate and
has been actively involved in political propaganda since World War II and
disseminating its anti-socialist comics in Chile during the 1970's (How to readDonald Duck).
Disneyfication is a global phenomenon
occurring not just in our understanding of history but at all levels of culture
and society, from the suburban way of life to our consumer habits and what we
watch on screen. The metaphor that comes to mind is that of the evil witch
offering Snow White the poisoned apple. But an even better metaphor for this
corporation is that of the magician apprentice played by Mickey Mouse in 1940's animated
film Fantasia. But as those who have already seen the film know, the magical
act turns against the mouse as he foolishly multiplies his "cleaning"
operators and everything gets out of control in the end.
Disney's Fantasia: The Sorcerer 1940
A lesson we can learn
from ancient Roman history is that every empire has its fall and it often comes
with over-expansion and disintegration from within. Who knows how Disney will
fall but be sure of it, It will fall. Perhaps future tourists will visit Disney's
Cinderella castle but get a similar tour to the one we get today while visiting
Trajan’s Column, and admire this powerful propaganda monument for what it
really is.
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