As this project was directly after the not plonk project, it was the one that I spent the least time developing.

Having looked at how society chooses to present themselves, I wanted assess how society does this with public figures, honing in on Boris Johnson as a political candidate who simultaneously divided and united the public through his presentation of himself. His facade of a bumbling idiot has been in circulation for many years yet this was not enough to steer many away from supporting him in his campaign for Prime-minister. This calculated, premeditated direction resulted in many viewing him as a harmless and humorous figure, while others blindly opposed him without breaking down why he is so damaging beyond his political party.

Within this cartoon (inspired by the work of editorial cartoonists) I wanted to bring this to attention. The work represents how a public figure is made up of the opinions and views of there person. While some characters praise Johnsons humorous qualities, others blindly label him as a 'capitalist pig'. Only two take into account the performative game of politics, congratulating his 'show' or condemning how he has 'played' the public. The phrase at the bottom of the work assesses the saying of 'all publicity is good publicity', drawing attention to how discussion surrounding political candidates can always be twisted to something positive to susceptible voters.

The work also acts as a critic of political cartoonists themselves, thinking about the lack of nuance within politics in the age of social media in which it is easy to consume a wholly one sided narrative. Caracaturising public figures has a highly similar effect in which we are encouraged to see an extreme and linear image of political figures.

This is something that I intend on continuing exploring within my final major project. Combing humour with serious topics is something that has always influences my work and I would like to continue thinking about the modern age of politics, the culture of lying and the effect that has had on our tolerance for leaders.

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