🕳️ Released Phantom Node 24: Mobutu Sese Seko. The Kleptocratic Void
- Foundation date
21 July 2025
This project is a philosophical and artistic study of the phenomenon of "phantom nodes" — invisible yet influential objects and subjects in the contemporary global system. The descriptions contained within this study are metaphorical and allegorical, aimed at uncovering systemic problems, regimes, and civilisational influences. They are not a journalistic investigation or legal accusations, but serve as an artistic interpretation of reality.
This creation is protected and cannot be used by third parties for the purpose of supporting, propagating, or legitimizing criminal regimes, terrorist states, and organizations operating in the shadows. The use of data or analysis results from this project, whether in part or in full, is expressly prohibited if the objective is to support or conceal their criminal activity.
The project may be freely used by individuals and organizations that combat evil, corruption, and aggression.
🕳️ Released Phantom Node 24: Mobutu Sese Seko. The Kleptocratic Void
His style wasn’t an era. It was an emptiness.
A cult of personality, designer hats, massive corruption, and a starving country — this is the abyss a kleptocrat leaves behind.
He dissolved the state into himself — and left behind a void.
Type of Node
Personalized Kleptocracy
Condition
A glittering shell concealing rot
Form of Hold
Repression, propaganda, foreign support
Image
The phantom of a ruler in lavish faux-African attire, clutching a sack of money, distant and hollow, amid devastation
Instead of the Phantom
Democratic institutions, accountability, economic justice
Essence of the Node
What held it together?
Mobutu Sese Seko ruled Congo (renamed Zaire) for over 30 years.
His power relied on a fragile balance of repression, foreign support, and relentless looting.
How did he become a phantom?
Outwardly charismatic — leopard hat, charming smile, global visibility.
Inwardly: fear, poverty, kleptocracy, cruelty, and institutional decay.
Why does the phantom still exist?
The legacy of kleptocracy left a deeply hollowed state, and such emptiness cannot be easily rebuilt.
His ghost lives in the illusion of a “strong leader” who both controls everything and takes no responsibility.
Phantom’s Current State
A symbol of the “resource curse”: a country rich in minerals, poor in every other way.
Mobutu’s name still hangs like a shadow over the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After the Regime
Instead of building, the nation had to excavate itself from under the rubble.
The entire system had been personalized — and fell with him.
Ethnic divisions, inflamed under his rule, continue to cost lives.
Collective Response
We are not dazzled by swagger.
We don’t confuse showmanship with substance.
We see the void —
where there should have been life.
Key Principle
Glamour does not conceal guilt.
Kleptocracy is not a style of leadership — it's a method of looting the future.
Alt-text:
A graphite portrait of Mobutu Sese Seko. He is dressed in luxurious attire with a leopard-print hat. In his hand — a sack of money. His gaze is arrogant and detached. Behind him: signs of poverty and devastation — ruined buildings, emptiness, and an emaciated child. The atmosphere evokes waste, detachment, and plunder.
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Unmasking the Phantom. Pivtorak.Studio. 19.07.2025
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration. Depictions are allegorical and do not allege facts about private individuals without corroborated evidence.
🫧 Phantom Node Dossier 24: Mobutu Sese Seko. The Kleptocratic Void.
Key Aspects of the Phantom:
"The Kleptocratic Void" (or "The Ghost of Personal Enrichment"). This phantom node symbolizes the transformation of a sovereign state into a private enterprise, whose sole purpose is the personal enrichment of the ruler and his inner circle. Its essence lies in the systematic dismantling of national institutions and the creation of a "void" in the financial system into which all national wealth and resources vanish.
Regimes (which it directly shapes/supports):
💰 Regime of "Kleptocracy": Direct, institutionalized looting of the state treasury, where state funds are legally equated with personal assets.
👑 Regime of "Cult of Personality": The use of pervasive propaganda and public adoration to legitimize absolute power and impunity.
📉 Regime of "Economic Collapse": A conscious policy leading to the destruction of key economic sectors in favor of shadow schemes.
🔒 Regime of "Zairianization": The nationalization of enterprises under the guise of patriotism, which actually serves to transfer assets into the ownership of the ruling elite.
Tools (which it actively uses/oversees):
🏦 Foreign Bank Accounts: The use of offshore zones and Swiss banks as the primary tool for storing stolen national assets.
📰 State Propaganda: Control over all media to distort reality and conceal mass looting.
⚔️ Security Services: The use of the army and special services not to protect the state, but to ensure personal loyalty and suppress political opposition.
🏭 State Enterprises: The transformation of state-owned companies into "slush funds" for siphoning off money.
Civilizational Influences (which it embodies/exploits):
💔 Institutional Atrophy: The complete destruction of statehood and trust in institutions.
💸 Chronic Poverty: Dooming the population to perpetual poverty and dependence through the depletion of resources.
👤 Erosion of National Dignity: The creation of a mentality where cynicism and corruption become norms of survival.
🧠 "Brain Drain": The mass exodus of qualified personnel, leading to the irreversible weakening of the country's intellectual potential.
Dissection of a Phantom Node. Pivtorak.Studio. 19.07.2025
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration. Depictions are allegorical and do not allege facts about private individuals without corroborated evidence.
