Several universities are now showcasing art featuring black paint-spattered American flag

The University of Kansas is just one of several universities across the U.S. that is permitting black paint-spattered American flags to fly as part of an art project depicting the "current political climate" in America.

What are the details?

The university is currently hosting an art display project titled, "Pledges of Allegiance,"  which is sponsored by Creative Time, a New York-based organization focused on "free expression."

"Pledges of Allegiance" features the art of 16 designers and features one artist's flag work per month.

The installation in question is a black paint-spattered American flag — "Untitled (flag 2)" — designed by German artist Josephine Meckseper, which flies at the university as part of the project.

Other colleges that have taken part in the display include the University of South Florida, Cornell University, Texas State University, and Rutgers University.

Creative Time's website discusses the art installation, which Meckseper says is a reflection of a "deeply polarized country" and takes direct aim at President Donald Trump.

“The flag is a collage of an American flag and one of my dripped paintings which resembles the contours of the United States,” Meckseper said. “I divided the shape of the country in two for the flag design to reflect a deeply polarized country in which a president has openly bragged about harassing women and is withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol and UN Human Rights Council.”

“The black and white sock on my flag takes on a new symbolic meaning in light of the recent imprisonment of immigrant children at the border,” Meckseper noted.

According to Campus Reform, a plaque near the installation reads, "Conceived in response to the current political climate, Pledges of Allegiance aims to inspire a sense of community among cultural institutions and begin articulating the urgent response our political moment demands."

How are people reacting to this?

Ian Ballinger, a communications major at the school, said that the installation is counterintuitive to what it means to be a KU Jayhawk.

“As a born and raised Kansan and somebody that loves being apart of this university and loves being a Jayhawk, I find this to be the exact opposite of what it means to call yourself a Jayhawk,” Ballinger told Campus Reform.

“Unfortunately you see universities across the country being overrun by far left activists and postmodernists," he added. "This display is not representative of what the University of Kansas, the school I grew up loving and still love to this day, stands for.”

Ian Appling, a student at the school and U.S. Navy veteran, isn't happy, either.

“As a U.S. Navy veteran and student at the University of Kansas currently seeking my master's degree, I find the ‘artwork’ that currently flies at Spooner Hall heinous and abhorrent,” Appling told the outlet. “I do strongly believe in the United States' Constitution and swore an oath to defend it, which includes the individual citizen's right to use our flag in an expression of freedom of speech.”

“With that being said, this desecrated American flag is currently flying on a public university's campus, where Kansas and Federal taxpayer money is sent to provide an unbiased center of learning and discourse,” Appling continued. “Any public space or property that shows bias of this proportion should have all taxpayer funds indefinitely suspended until proper action is completed, formal apologies sent out, all faculty involved should be thoroughly investigated, and examples made.”

See the flag in question below.

An American #flag with black paint splashed over it is designed by a German artist & is flown in several locations across the U.S. including KU, Cornell University, Texas State University, Rutgers University, & the University of South... https://t.co/aM5G6Eheiw

— Rebecca Simon (@LOVINGUSA) July 11, 2018

(H/T: Campus Reform)