Manifest Disconnect, Paintings from Douglas Cason
History is broken down into countless pieces of fact. However, when it is woven together as a whole, does it often lose its truth?
History is not a static record of truth. It is a constructed narrative, shaped by the hands that write it and the silences it enforces. Though it presents itself as whole, history is, in reality, a mosaic of fragments, selected or omitted to serve those in power. When these fragments are stitched together too neatly, we risk mistaking coherence for truth.
From the erasure of entire cultures in colonial archives to the “Lost Cause” mythology of the American South, fabricated histories have long justified systems of oppression. Consider Herodotus, the so-called “father of history,” whose writings blurred the line between reportage and mythology. Or Plato’s “noble lie,” the idea that myths, even if false, could unify society. History, then, is not merely a record of facts, but a philosophical and political act: the construction of belief.
In this era of “fake news” and algorithmic echo chambers, the question of who controls the narrative is more urgent than ever. Misinformation persists, using distortion and denial to shape collective memory. The victors and the wealthy have long authored history to suit their ends, while the marginalized remain footnotes or vanish entirely, leaving the rest to choose the version of history that most closely aligns with their perceived reality.
Today, small but vocal collectives deny climate change, pandemics, or even claim the Earth is flat, not through reason, but through the strategic manipulation of perception. We live in a time when archives are editable and memory is malleable.
This body of work intervenes in that legacy. It operates in the grey zone where fact and fiction overlap, where truth is provisional and unstable. By remixing documents, photographs, and textual and visual forms traditionally associated with authority and credibility, the work constructs alternative historical imaginaries. Disrupted imagery and layered narratives invite viewers to question where the historical record ends and invention begins.
Through these research-driven, speculative histories, the work becomes a counter-archive—one that reveals the contradictions and ideological blind spots embedded in the stories we inherit. Each layer calls the viewer into a more critical, participatory pursuit of truth, not as a destination, but as a process of ongoing inquiry.
