Wang Guangyi e il potere inverso della propaganda. Riflessioni a margine del ciclo Great Criticism

One of the main purposes of Maoist China was to disrupt any ability of independent thinking, in order to establish a total control on masses. The most effective tool to achieve this goal had been propaganda: Maoist era posters are well known and have often been the subject of rework, but Wang Guangyi recasts these authentic instruments of control, with no satirical nor polemic and aim. The harder effect of Maoist propaganda was on the ideological level as it produced a whole generation of disoriented citizens, unconscious and inert like " sesame pancakes randomly turn up and down ". The main interest of Wang Guangyi was so to underline the human drift caused by propaganda and reverse the course of it, making use of the same instrument: encourage critical thinking and struggle for identity, trough a renewed artistic propaganda which critically analyzes and duplicates the original one.