Sunday, June 16, 2013

Some Conservative Political Art.

One the areas that Conservatives need to do a lot of work on is the incorporation of their political ideals through the medium of art. It's a sad fact that the liberal end of the political spectrum has effectively harnessed this medium to further its political gains.

Whats inspired this post is Ian Ironwood's Pintrest pinboard where he has posted up some manosphere artwork. Now I applaud Ian for the artwork, which is more manosphere orientated than strictly conservative, but in the spirit of constructive criticism I'd like to make a few comments.

Great political artwork lets the image do the talking with a minimum of verbiage. I thought this poster below the most powerful of his images.


Simple and to the point. The stripper sexual reference provides a great psychological contrast the sexually absent daddy daughter imagery. (? Original art by Bernie Fuchs)

I thought that these images were also quite good.

 


I think some of his other MGTOW posters on the other hand are much weaker. Not because because of my anti MGTOW position but the posters don't really get their massage across with enough punch. Still, Ian gets high marks for the effort.

A lot of conservative political art is clumsy and lacks punch but I thought I'd post up a few examples of what I think is exceptional good stuff.



Pure gold, this one is going to be a political classic. It's just so good. Virtually no verbiage and its lets the image do the talking. In a similar vein,  this British Conservative party poster really annoyed the Lefty's.


Saatchi and Saatchi did this one. It's modern its simple and conveys left wing menace effectively without moralising.

The next one is also great since it flips the script when it comes to the Left's championing of minorities.


Now, I've always been a fan of humor and the art of making your opponent look like an idiot. I think one of the things that conservative artists have a habit of is overtly moralising when trying to get the message across, this is off putting to the all but the most crude and therefore counterproductive.






Now, the point is that conservatives need to embrace art as medium to get the message across since most people don't respond to reasoned logic but rather emotional argument.  Part of the Left's success lays in the fact that it is percieved party of the "cool people", the group that most of the proletariat seek to aspire to.  This places the conservatives in a difficult position if they want to capture the arty high ground. If they try to imitate the Lefty's they play within the Left's frame, making it difficult to get their message across. Conservatives should not try and cultivate a hipster image.  It's a difficult problem but perhaps some of the Eastern European dissident art may serve as a useful springboard from which a conservative art may emerge.


This one is also good.



Finally, I've always thought this beer commercial by Steinlarger has lot going for it.

7 comments:

Sis said...

Those are effective, I liked the stripper one best. Good father's day post!

Drew said...

1 - I think you are right on target. It appears to me that the anti-progressive, social conservatives, and pro-Christians are so starved for artistic avatars and imagery in the main stream that they latch on to caricatures of their beliefs. For example, Archie Bunker was a break out success despite being an intentional caricature. Or more modern (and cruder), Sterling Archer and Ron Swanson.

2 - I'm surprised you didn't tie these suggestions into the appeal and social image of manliness as explained in previous posts with the 'manly socialists'.

3 - The eastern european one is self explanatory, but now I am curious as to what it says. Polish?

4 - The libertarian-ish tea partiers would use the phrase "Who is John Galt?" back in 2008/9 to much effect.

The Social Pathologist said...

@Sis

The stripper one is very good.

Drew.

Drew.

It can be translated two ways. Iron man or man of steel, though I think the latter is more accurate. I think it is Polish. (Slavic languages are similar, and I speak Croatian)

It's interesting that the fascists saw art as an integral medium through which to spread the ideology. Unfortunately, they were too successful and now any form of martial or classic art subordinated to political purpose is automatically assumed to be fascistic. The only type of martial art that seems to be acceptable in today's society is the wounded or defeated soldier.

By the way, got wind of this aesthetically pleasing Russian film Admiral. Interestingly, it was partially financed by the ministry of culture in Russia. It appears the the former Soviets, don't seem to have the same hatred of the past as the West does.

sunshinemary said...

It appears the the former Soviets, don't seem to have the same hatred of the past as the West does.

I lived in Russia for awhile in 1997 and even then, so soon after the dissolution of the USSR, they had art exhibits featuring old Soviet poster and banners. They were quite interesting.

Anonymous said...

I don't know the original creator, but I like this one with Obama as Urkel from Family Matters: http://questioningwithboldness.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/obama_urkel_economy.jpg

If you aren't familiar with the character Urkel, see the opening part of this youtube video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY-i3bClGyQ

Samson J. said...

It's interesting that the fascists saw art as an integral medium through which to spread the ideology. Unfortunately, they were too successful and now any form of martial or classic art subordinated to political purpose is automatically assumed to be fascistic.

Yes, true, and it's too bad because that sort of art is some of the most worldview-captivating and motivating. Who is not moved by Heroes' Square?

I'm not convinced, though, that the association with fascism is necessarily permanent, even in our culture. Why not just... keep using that imagery anyway? Wouldn't persistent use of that type of imagery by people who simply aren't fascists eventually break the association?

The Social Pathologist said...

Samson J

I'm all for using it.