Decisions + change of direction

This year I wanted to focus on themes of society and possibly technology, as I focused a lot on political aspects last year. One of my main reasons for this change of direction was because investigating into politics, while I enjoy it and find it worthwhile, frustrates and challenges me. After some thought, and my investment in following the American election only to be horribly disgusted and infuriated by the result yesterday, I've decided I need to use my frustration to fuel a historically and politically charged exploration of visual culture. What's the point of making work if it doesn't have some form of strong feeling or message behind it? Mainly rage.

I've been primarily looking into American politics, namely how the nation was formed (or stolen), unified (sort of) and how it has changed into what it is today. The War for Independence is very interesting to me as it was fought by men who wanted to forge a country for free people, and factions of the American people have since continuously worked throughout history against this morale, dividing and segregating for years based on hundreds of varying prejudices, often times saying they are enforced by the Constitution, written largely by men who wanted liberty and freedom from the yoke of corrupt monarchy.
Oil paintings of battles and figureheads are the primary form of visual communication from this time, alongside tomes of accounts, recollections, battle plans, interviews etc. I want to investigate the relationship between the written and the visual in terms of historical accuracy and representational value.

A massive inspiration for me in choosing this topic has been the Broadway musical, Hamilton, which illustrates the history of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers, whose life was peppered with danger, genius, acclaim, romance, disgrace and tragedy. His relationships with the men who forged modern American government and his contribution to it were often overlooked in the historical accounts of the time, mainly because a lot of his contemporaries desired to better themselves rather than giving him and his allies the credit. Names like Thomas Jefferson are more famous and renowned than obscure names such as Hercules Mulligan, Cato or Marquis de Lafayette, although the continuation and security of American independence are owed largely to the three latter figures.

This is an element I want to explore in this module, how history is very much written by the victors, but today we all have a voice to express how we individually feel and respond to events, and how this will affect how history is documented in the future, especially with politically charged illustration, design, film, music and other forms of creative expression being prevalent in today's society. After all, it was this musical that enlightened me on various figures and events that I wasn't previously aware of, rather than a history book - my first bit of proof that creative expression is today a much more influential tool than traditional methods of information reception.