Propaganda Office

A model to disarm conspiracy theories

Propaganda Office is a long-term artistic research project and a series of public interventions. Concerned with present-day propaganda mechanisms, the artists are particularly focusing on strategies developed for and applied to conspiracy theory narratives. Today, systematic lies, fake news, and conspiracy fictions have been proven extremely useful in the manipulation of political movements, while at the same time conspiracy theory followers are being heavily instrumentalised by controversial political agendas.

In the framework of Propaganda Office, the artists develop a model to confront conspiracy theories. The single-channel installation initiates a mechanism consisting of small-scale subversions. By embracing the tactics of camouflage, the artists produce material with potentially viral quality that could undermine conspiracy theories using their own means. The artists believe that with strategic and persistent action, this mechanism could disarm particular conspiracy theories and gradually discredit the seemingly systematic, yet spontaneously constructed network of beliefs and narratives they participate in.

This work was realised within the framework of the European Media Art Platforms (EMAP) programme at m-cult (FI) with support of the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.