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paper-machine comments on Conspiracy Theories as Agency Fictions - Less Wrong
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Comments (115)
If the linked article is correct, the CIA did more than merely trumpet Abstract Expressionism. They arranged funding (e.g., for exhibitions) that would have otherwise not been present, which does indeed signal greater merit than was actually the case.
The apparent success of AE has been something of a mystery to me, but now I know part of the reason why it succeeded. TL; DR: "artistic merit" is signalling.
But, back then, there was a huge bias against all avant-garde/unconventional art present in the U.S.! Surely the CIA's promotion effort could hardly outbalance the prevailing cultural attitudes of the time.
You've shifted the locus from "[the CIA] deceived the public about its merit..." to "Surely the CIA's promotion effort could hardly outbalance the prevailing cultural attitudes of the time."