I had this muzzle on with all these wounds and I couldn’t tell anybody

January 23, 2015 11:48 AM

Behind the Mask - Revealing the Trauma of War "Brain injuries caused by blast events change soldiers in ways many can’t articulate. Some use art therapy, creating painted masks to express how they feel."
posted by gwint (6 comments total)

Disturbing stuff
posted by Flood at 12:55 PM on January 23, 2015

The arts. They're important.
posted by fiercecupcake at 12:59 PM on January 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

combat paper
posted by bq at 1:02 PM on January 23, 2015

By which I mean: funding for the arts and arts education is often dismissed as unnecessary. But when that education can be harnessed to help people make sense of the horror the system has brought to them, sometimes those people can see its worth. We shouldn't need that to "prove" the worth of art and art education, but there it is. Art is for everyone, and it has the power to surprise ("I wanted no part of it because, number one, I’m a man, and I don’t like holding a dainty little paintbrush. Number two, I’m not an artist. And number three, I’m not in kindergarten") and heal and make sense of the incomprehensible. It's at once very powerful and almost mystical, and at the same time can be a practical and everyday way to deal. More art for everyone!
posted by fiercecupcake at 1:08 PM on January 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Dang, that is some seriously moving stuff. I couldn't listen at work, but those masks...
posted by Emor at 2:09 PM on January 23, 2015

Outstanding link, and very very grim. It's so frustrating that our society eventually focuses scientific effort on exactly how blast effects destroy our human cognitive system, but who researches alternatives to war?
posted by Jesse the K at 2:48 PM on January 24, 2015 [1 favorite]