Fighting Domestic Terrorism: Art\u27s Role in Social Activism

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