Date of Award
Spring 5-19-2017
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
Abstract
Through a study into the complex web of Church and State, I describe how the American condition falters under a Capitalist regime. Throughout this thesis, I identify incongruences within pervading socio-political tropes. By dissections of religion and culture, I identify how the American people are subjugated by their own ideologies, thereby perpetuating a cycle of class struggle and social injustice. I assert that the American hero has failed in the face of material desire and blind faith to a ruling plutocracy, and that organized religion has been ultimately subsumed by politics as a tool of control. Using the visual language of American culture against itself, I’ve created a series of works that reflect this dark underbelly of American culture. In doing so, I attempt to display how artworks can activate discourse on a sociopolitical level, and moreover emphasizes art’s obligation to do so.
Language
English (en)
Program Director
Patricia Olynyk
Program Director's Department
Graduate School of Art
Thesis Advisor
Buzz Spector
Committee Member
Timothy Portlock
Committee Member
Timothy Portlock
Committee Member
Thomas Reed
Recommended Citation
cornell, jonathan, "Fighting Domestic Terrorism: Art's Role in Social Activism" (2017). Graduate School of Art Theses. ETD 76. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7F18X52.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/samfox_art_etds/76
Included in
Art and Design Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
Artist's Statement
Art can either be used for propaganda or against it; it never remains neutral to its surroundings.
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7F18X52