Culture is God

For over 3000 years art has been an effective instrument utilized to instigate and propagate propaganda. To communicate wealth, kings would have their thrones custom made in gold. They would have statues of themselves erected to signify dominance and unadulterated power. Art was grand and bold. Art was truthful. Art was forever. Propaganda means to tell one side of the story great. For that to be achieved, we need theatricality and a truckload of charisma. We need the narcissistic and egotistical character to impose himself on the world and lay claim to being a god. We need symbols with meanings, paintings of portraits and parades on the streets with people exhibiting their skills in an art form known as dance to communicate a feeling of happiness or to spread fear and flex muscles in the form of a military parade. Art is emotive. It makes us feel, it engages our feelings and regulates our emotions. Art is powerful. Art is dramatic, it has flair. The best utilization of art as propaganda can be found in history. Particularly in the 1930’s in Germany. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party were at the helm of Germany. The aim was to restore Germany’s status in the world as a powerhouse. It had been crippled in World War one, and Hitler had ambitions of restoring it. To do this, everyone in Germany had to pledge allegiance to Hitler. Everyone had to be loyal to Hitler. Everyone had to give their lives to Hitler or simply run the risk of being killed. Hitler had a minister of propaganda who would propagate the word in the form movies and music. Children in primary school all the way to tertiary institutions started off the day singing a mandatory anthem about Hitler’s greatness and how he is Germany’s savior. Hitler proclaimed his book “Mein Kampf” as the bible of Germany and passed a law that every household in Germany should possess it and study it with great rigor and enthusiasm. The Nazi symbol (Swastika) bombarded every street and corner of Germany – it was all that people saw, all that they knew. With the aid of art, Adolf Hitler transformed himself into a literal God. He had real power, he was respected and he was feared. His military parades were so majestic and grandiose with the image of Swastikas in a form of flags and big posters everywhere; with the crowd cheering and saluting with their right hands in the air. Hitler was propaganda embodied and being an artist himself, he made it an art form.

Adolf Hitler is not the only person to use art as propaganda. Religion institutions like the Catholic Church are one of the best to ever do it. The statues they have erected are so beautiful. The architecture of their churches – it’s so sublime, so extraterrestrial and yet calming, conservative and reassuring. The inside of the church is spectacular – they have mini fountains, statues of personnel in the bible and the most beautiful paintings. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the artists who contributed in the churches art. He painted one of the most remarkable and beautiful paintings ever, notably the last supper – it was realistic, alive, animated, spirited and energetic. The picture is exactly what God and bible were conveying. Leonardo Da Vinci did it, he hit the nail right on top of the head. The church has this impressive aura, from their paintings, the churches architecture, their statues, their props, the congregation – they are magnificent! In 2019, we still see propaganda propagated in widespread areas. In Gauteng, Sandton resides a bronze statue of first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela. It is huge and commemorative. Like the Grand Canyon, tourists from all parts of life frequent it to take pictures and busk in its glory and magnificence. There is also a majestic bridge located in Newtown, Johannesburg that is named after the great man. It is a beautiful piece of architecture that draws tourists in. It is grand and sublime. At night, it lights up in a way that almost takes your breath away – it is so beautiful. Nelson Mandela was a great man, however mortality meant that he was limited. Art and culture has elevated his name in the realm of immortality and gods.

Religion was created to help us with fundamental issues of existence namely ethics, morality and values. Like Philosophy it taught how to live – but in a reserved and calculated manner. It helped with nihilistic thoughts and depression. It gave us a reason to live. By negating the material world in favor of a Heaven or Utopia, it unloaded the burden on our shoulders and made us strive for an ideal. It was beautiful, subtle and effective. The world had an order. People’s behaviors could be predicted. There was harmony in communities. Conduct was born, to be different meant a transgression to society, so that was avoided by all means. Everyone strived to be a “good” person. Religion created that culture in communities, in all parts of the world. It created the culture of empathy and sympathy – the essence of being a good person, it created a culture of order and it created a culture of submissiveness. As a crowd management system, it had its frailties that were exposed in the dawn of the industrial revolution. People in their numbers now lived in the city. The city was confined and restricted with no trees or an ecosystem that supported life. Life in the city was stressful, demanding and expedient. Religion had protected people from the notion and truth that life was suffering and now everything was unfolding – people’s lives were falling apart. Religion did not have the tools or answers to help people deal with their demanding lives. Heaven as a consolation prize for the suffering evident and prevailing was not enough. This resulted in people having nihilistic thoughts. 21st Century philosopher Nietzsche professed that “God was dead!” on his amazing work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. It was a fair assessment of reality and the future.

Now in 2019, on the 4th industrial revolution with the emergence of artificially created life, we see the evidence of god’s death. More and more people now live in cities as opposed to small intimate villages in a community where everyone knows one another. Life is on the fast lane and church isn’t even in the car. It is trailing behind, losing a drag race by miles. Life is even more demanding, life is more stressful and life is more expedient. Thinking is a luxury! Loneliness and depression are the epidemics of the world. Suicide rates are skyrocketing. Crime at an all-time high and Capitalism – the new culture of the world destroying religion making sure that we feed on one another like cannibalistic life forms. The capitalistic system is god. The capitalistic system is culture. It has devoured religions ethics, morality and values leaving the population confused about their self-identity, about a self-campus on where to go. We are about in the wild chasing novelty after novelty. Lost. Empty. The song “No Church in the Wild” by Jay –Z & Kanye West explores our reality in great detail. It is about how everything is permitted in a world where god is dead. The visuals for this song is the most powerful thing you will ever see. Both Jay –Z & Kanye West are exempted from the video, instead we see a movie where there is a lot of chaos, fighting and death. It is the artist’s job to reflect the world to the people, a job Jay –Z and Kanye West did remarkably well with high distinction. It is a piece of art that will immortalize them. It is brilliant.

Kanye West is one of the few artists in the world to understand the role of art, to understand the power that it has. He is an intelligent man who aligns himself with the outlandish and provocative. He does this because he understands the order of the world. He does this because he knows culture, rules. To shift culture, you have to be unconventional, mysterious, unpredictable and a loose screw. Being unpredictable makes you powerful. This is a skill that Kanye West has mastered all his life. In 2007, Kim Kardashian released a sex-tape on the internet with then boyfriend “Ray J”. It was a strategic ploy on her side to attain power. It was a bold move, it was gritty, gutsy and it was scandalous! She became an instant star. She had a great body and her boyfriend was a celebrity. She was all the internet talked about. Fresh from the release of his mega successful album Graduation in 2007, Kanye West started courting Kim Kardashian. With the trajectory of his career on the ascendency he saw an opportunity. Kim Kardashian’s public persona was too good for him to pass up on, it was scandalous, promiscuous, bold, gutsy, sexy, forbidden and phallic. Kim Kardashian was extremely powerful and he (Kanye) knew this. Ultimately, he married Kim and Kim Kardashian married a successful, rapper and entrepreneur who graced the cover of “Times” magazine thus legitimizing her brand and image. The marriage was a perfect fit. As a couple, they had influence, they had power and they would be the talk of popular culture. 2013 saw the release of his sixth album “Yeezus”. Once again, he had aligned himself with a powerful figure “Jesus Christ”. It was typical Kanye who freed himself from all the barriers and boxes that contained everyone else. From that move, naturally he was all that people could talk about. With the aid of art, he became mythical. It was propaganda, by aligning himself with “Jesus Christ”, a cult-like following emerged and started creating pictures of him as Jesus. It was a frenzy. It made him powerful. Soon enough, everyone was imitating him – now the world had artists like “Reazus” and “Teezus”. Kanye West was idolized and worshipped.

The internet has bestowed on to people the power to be gods. Art is something we could use to improve that god-like status. The danger of the internet is that it has also created illusions. Being headstrong is a requirement. The “death of god” has to have a powerful effect on us. We have to do things for ourselves and have the courage to live life in its totality. We have to be brave and venture out in the world with a strong belief in ourselves and our abilities. God cannot do anything for us because everything was fabricated by culture – and culture is made up of people like me and you. Everything in the world is made up of culture and influence. Love is cultural invention – initially it was an escape from our loneliness and boredom. The internet has gifted us the opportunity to be better, to be influential, and to be gods.

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