Control Imagery

I felt kinship looking at the crowd already gathering at 10:30 Saturday morning, some photographing the curtain closed over a Kennedy Center wall. The removal of a name from a wall never felt so important. I’ve felt each of his desecrations in my heart physically, appalled that I could actually be seeing giant machines tearing apart the east wing of the White House, where the First Ladies’ offices once were. How did none of us know about this until we saw the event as it happened? Why no debate and discussion? Seeing some of this rescinded is an important reclamation of an image. The Kennedy Center was a memorial to JFK and to the importance of art and culture, so the removal of the name cleans the illegal tag off our national symbol, off values we thought were foundation to our country and instead to create a gilded homage to weakness, changing the imagery of Washington. His image and name all over the capital rubs our nose in what he’s done to the achievements of our best values. It’s consistent with authoritarian aesthetics. Architecture is the medium of power. Giant architecture like an out-of-scale ballroom or a massive arch are meant to make us feel small, overwhelmed by the power of the state The aesthetic of authoritarianism eclipses beauty with statements, names plastered over what held meaning. Rounding up and banishing people from the country is part of the imagery of control. As an article by Cristina Awadalla points out, the physical abuse of particular people and the masked thugs that carry it out are part of the imagery, an intentional spectacle of violent control. Kate Wgner’s column in the May issue of The Nation, points to the warehouses we put people in as ”the clearest expression of fascist architecture in our time.” A cage fight in front of the White House celebrates the culture of violence. Illegal use of the military as props (who had height and weight requirements to be there) also conforms to authoritarian control of imagery. Distrust of truth by repetition of falsehood, and demonizing those that disagree lays a foundation for building the brain chemistry of hate, focusing disappointments and resentment on outsider groups in rallies that celebrate insider status. To not do what the authoritarian wants is one form of resistance. Having that name removed from a place it never belonged resists the insistent force of the authority. Some of the banners have come down. That satire is effective is obvious when media sites are attacked because of comedians pointing out injustice and absurdities. Political cartoons cut down the powerful and refuse obeisance. Art, music, and comedy all display the persistence of human spirit and and grow under pressure. The is our counter-control imagery.