Death Sentence - A Preview

When I first viewed the art, associated with this film in 2007, it rendered me speechless. At the time I worked with survivors who had lost their military spouses. Many of them had an emotional nakedness about them, often feeling like they were lost in the world without their partners. 2007 had been a particularly hard year for me. It was a year of multiple losses for me, so I did not share the view that others had expressed. Where others saw objectification, I saw vulnerability that made me feel the coldness of a world at war. I thought about our national history. At the time of the first world war, many families were left without any sort of safety net. There was little in the way of death benefits. There was no such thing as "SGLI" or "Survivor's Benefits". During this time, they truly were left to their own devices to survive. Women were not known to serve during the first World War, and often were left destitute. 

The artist, Philip Brooker, started this project after reading a series of letters, the last letters home by servicemen who were often at the front of the war, where real horror visited daily.  In that era, men came face to face in conflict. Not at all like the remote warfare that is practiced in our age. This film, aptly reminds us of the real violence of war, no matter where they are fought. It's been seven years since I have seen this series in person, and I still come away with that feeling of being deeply moved by my perception of his work. After nearly a decade of work, it's evolved into this project. This is just a preview that I have been graced with and the privilege of sharing it with you now.  For more information about the artist, Philip Brooker, please visit www.brookerworks.com