Embrace the Suck. A phrase that is often enthusiastically demanded from superior to the subordinate is an important and widely experienced military colloquialism.  It means there is an undeniable fact that life is about to become difficult, and the only option is to lovingly welcome the hardship, and accomplish the mission.

These are the anti-monument to the conventional perception of military life. I subvert childhood notions of service by presenting mundane, un-heroic, and unsettling moments—cOMMON equipment and the typical valiant exploits  are abstracted and restructured into instants between actions, the hurry up and wait, the catharsis in self-destructive and unprofessional behavior.

My intention is not to critique the individual soldier but to draw awareness of unnecessary sacrifice and challenge the viewer’s understanding of war, its place in the home as an outlet for entertainment, and its psychological impact on the active participants.