Former Rep Sends Performance Artists Dressed in Straightjackets to Capitol Hill
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is making headlines with his move to send performance artists to the U.S. Capitol Hill. The move was part of a campaign Kinzinger launched to take on political extremism, as Politico…
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is making headlines with his move to send performance artists to the U.S. Capitol Hill.
The move was part of a campaign Kinzinger launched to take on political extremism, as Politico reported.
The campaign’s website, breakfreenow.org, features a video showing individuals wearing straightjackets as well as goggles showing them clips from news broadcasts.
Kinzinger eventually shows up in the video, saying, “Choosing between two extremes isn’t a choice at all.”
It shows an individual controlling the narrative with words including “blame” and fear.”
Toward the end of the video, the individuals begin removing the goggles as another shouts at them to put them back on.
“We’re taking a stand against fear-based manipulation. We’re fighting back to break the cycle of extremism,” Kinzinger says.
He calls on them to “break free from this dystopian dread.”
Watch the video below:
In an interview with Politico, Kinzinger explained, “What we’re showing, by the video, is we’ve been programmed so much to believe that there’s only two choices to everything, that the other side is our enemy, that each event in the world should be seen through blue or red glasses.”
He added, “And we’re saying there’s a completely different way.”
Axios reported, as part of the campaign, performance artists wearing straightjackets featured in the video were seen roaming the Capitol Tuesday.
They were reportedly carrying QR codes linking to the website.
“We call them ‘drones’,” Kinzinger told Axios.
He continued, “They’re just kind of droning around, they really don’t have a purpose at the moment … because they just feel unrepresented. They feel like government is just kind of going along.”
Kinzinger shared he is spending a whopping $250,000 on an “initial launch,” including both TV and digital ads, billboards and other campaigns involving performance art, per Axios.
The former lawmaker notably broke from his own party following the January 6 riot at the Capitol.