Power and Humiliation

Humiliation is a central part of any philosophy of power. There is even a religion dedicated to this, expressly commanding its followers to humiliate the unbeliever. It is not enough to steal, kill and destroy, the unbeliever must be humiliated as well.

However, this is not something that is confined solely to religious texts. This is intuitively understood by any psychopath. In their striving for power, they recognize the importance of humiliation as a tool. Humiliation puts the one in power at a higher moral position than the one being humiliated, and this is especially true when the ones being humiliated appear to humiliate themselves out of their own volition.

This goes a long way in explaining why state commissioned art is full of degrading and right out disgusting works, because such art firmly places the commission above both the artists and the tax payer. The commission for performing arts in Norway hands out money to whoever manages to degrade themselves the most. Among performances being commissioned these days, we have a man who dumps his naked butt in paint, and proceeds to paint on a canvas on the ground by sitting on it. Another performance explores the concept of the glory hole as philosophical ideal. There's also plenty of performances where people simply squiggle around helplessly, while shouting and mumbling incoherently.

Artists are most likely to succeed in Norway if they present projects that are both degrading to themselves and disgusting to watch. This is because most art in Norway is heavily subsidized, so artists are dependent on hand outs from central commissions in order to make a living. The alternative is to produce excellent high quality stuff that people are willing to pay for, which involves much more talent and genuine dedication than most artists can muster. Most artists are faced with a choice between humiliation or starvation.

Interestingly, the few Norwegian artists who manage to make a living outside state controlled art circles are universally scorned. They are also targeted for tax audits, and sometimes even sent to jail for spurious reasons related to the complex tax code governing the arts. Odd Nerdrum, a contemporary Norwegian painter, was so badly treated in jail that he never recovered. I have no idea what they did to him, but it must have been bad.

So, next time someone suggests that the state should take a greater role in the arts, remind them just what sort of people the central commission will be staffed with, and ask them again if they think it's a good idea.

Humiliation

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