La torre horizontal y el arte como alternativa de resistencia en Cuba

Abstract

The panoptic model, conceived by Jeremy Bentham in 1791 and reinterpreted by Michel Foucault, describes a surveillance system in which individuals, feeling constantly observed, internalize discipline
and regulate their own behavior. In Cuba, this principle operates in a particular way: there is no visible central tower (metaphorically speaking), but rather a horizontal surveillance network in which control is disguised as community participation and social equality.

Through mechanisms of popular participation devised and implemented by the system itself, a diffuse supervision structure is established, where the people become both the watchers and the watched.

This «horizontal tower» generates self-censorship and conformity, consolidating a model of power that is imposed without the need for a centralized architectural structure.
Art, however, emerges as a space of resistance against this invisible panopticon. Cuban artists have used various forms of expression—painting, performance, video art—to expose and challenge these dynamics of control. The work of art critic Gerardo Mosquera highlights the importance of art as a practice of freedom and its ability to cha-
llenge censorship.

This article analyzes Cuban art as a mechanism of subversion against surveillance and social control, exploring how imagery and creativity can break with the narrative of power and establish spaces of autonomy and critical inquiry within a controlled society.