Brooklyn Artist Tallies Troop Suicides

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/brooklyn_artist_tallies_troop_suicides_20101117/?ln


At least someone is paying attention: In this image from designboom, Sebastian Errazuriz keeps score of American military members’ suicides on a Brooklyn wall.

In this case, the writing is actually on the wall: Brooklyn-based artist Sebastian Errazuriz turned his shock over hearing that the number of U.S. troops who committed suicide in 2009 doubled the toll of Americans killed in battle into protest art on the wall of his studio. Designboom has taken note. —KA

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http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/11233/sebastian-errazuriz-american-kills.html

snip//




'the counting of dead soldiers outside my studio was long and surprisingly eerie; it was
hard to forget that every brush stroke was a soldier who had died the previous year.
a lot of people stopped to read the mural and were immediately impressed by the reality
portrayed. most of them seemed quite shocked and approached me to ask if what I was
painting was real. I tried to explain that I simply wished to create a physical image that
could capture people's imagination, creating awareness of the current numbers in death,
war and the infinite discrepancy between the resources and energies destined to fight and
protect soldiers at war versus the energies invested in protecting their mental health
and stability.'- SR

[Poboy]

1. k&r

[mdmc]

2. within the PTSD treatment community the estimate is

30000 preventable deaths

[grahamhgreen]

3. Powerful

[bobbolink]

4. Thank you, Mr. Errazuriz. Art has the ability to make people aware and to care.

I wish I could find out the number of suicides of homeless people, because I have been thinking of doing something similar.