Pawel Kuczynski 25

 

This untitled illustration, known as Pawel Kuczynski 25, depicts what, from above ground, appears to be the Washington Monument. In reality, below the surface, it is discovered that the supposed Washington Monument is actually the growing nose of Pinocchio. Kuczynski is trying to spread the message that politicians and a lot of what goes on in Washington D.C. is unbelievably corrupt and illegal. He is trying to encourage the viewers of this piece of art not to blindly believe or follow along with what those in positions of power tell the general public to see as truth. Politicians are notorious for lying through their teeth in order to get the farm, money, and power they so desperately desire. 

It is also very important to note that the nose of Pinocchio, which is representative of the Washington Monument, is very tall. Through this, seemingly minor detail, Pawel Kuczynski is trying to make the point that Washington D.C., or even more drastically, this entire country, is built on the lies and misinformation spread by politicians, leaders, and just about anybody in substantial positions of power to the general public. As British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, wrote, “Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them,” (Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World). Essentially, what Russell is saying is that politicians take huge advantage of their public servant statuses by continuing to allow the public to believe that they are constantly being told the truth by those running their country. It is this blind trust and faith in these few individuals that allows them to get away with spreading their sugar-coated lies like wildfire.

Pawel Kuczynski was wholeheartedly and completely agree with the words written by Russell, as he has made it a point, through a large number of his illustrations, to express his distrust in politicians. Kuczynski often depicts, not only those in positions of power, but also those in the top 1% financially as evil, greedy, and selfish individuals that have only their own self-interests at heart. This is all despite the fact that many of them claim to be working to help those that are less fortunate. 

President Donald Trump, for instance, a perfect example of a politician spreading lies and misinformation for the sake of expanding his own power and instilling a sense of fear into the general public, the same group of people he is supposed to help protect and provide for. The Washington Post created and maintains a database that keeps track of anything President Trump has said or written that was ultimately deemed a “false or misleading claim.” Within the past four years, the number of claims has risen to over 20,000. And President Trump is not the only president to have spread falsehoods to the public. A study done by The Progressive, found that every single president that the United States has ever had has, at some point in their presidency, spread some sort of misinformation, most of which was done without a good moral or ethical reason. 

It is exactly for this reason that Pawel Kuczynski attempts to warn the viewers of his art not to put blind faith in politicians or those in positions of power. Time and time again, political figureheads worldwide have shown that their trustworthiness is something to be questioned. Despite the blatant lies and slander spread by a large majority of politicians, their word is still honored by a large portion of the population. It is, both, in the best interest of and of vital importance that every person think freely and challenge the word of those that we are simply told to put our faith in.