An artistic criticism of ignorance engineering from 20th century to the present

In this study, the notion of "ignorance engineering" which could be defined as "the concealment of information, events or phenomena from the most of societies to obtain profit or benefit and to ensure continuity by different forms of power" is put forward. This notion is examined as the starting point of the works that are carried out as an artistic critique. In the first part of the study, the history of the ignorance is examined epistemologically to clearly understand it. The research which has been put forward by different researchers are scrutinized, their taxonomies and classifications are dwelled on, and its reasons, impacts and consequences are consolidated with examples. In the second part, the notions of perception and social perception are urged upon. Experiments and research on how the notion of social perception works are examined, and how and why the perception of masses is manipulated in this process is discussed. In the third part, the notion of propaganda and its subheadings are discussed. Propaganda examples from the 20th century to the present are given and the reasons, results and effects of the notion are discussed through these examples. Subsequently, propaganda's place in the art world is touched upon and the critiques of propaganda made by different artists and art formations, their exposure to the propaganda and their usage as a means of propaganda are scrutinized. In the fourth part, the notions of consumption society and culture industry are dwelled on and examples of planned obsolescence are included. In this context, it is intended to point out the illusion in the consumption culture. In the fifth part, the notion of power is examined through forms of power, and how the masses are governed by different power mechanisms, using the phenomena like showing, privilege and freedom illusion, are discussed. In the sixth part, media and counter media are urged upon, examples of counter media like literature, cinema etc. are included. The examples which disclose the secrets of the power mechanisms and the works which decode the notion of mass surveillance of the art world are included and discussed. Finally, in the seventh part, the studies of the author which have been done on these subjects are given and the relations between the studies and these subjects are explained.