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Epitaph // 2014

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Stereo Fixed-Media

Duration // 9'28" 

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Epitaph is a work for electronic fixed-media that seeks to interpret in some small way the horrors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As a child Casey always wanted to jump out of airplanes; as an adult he found himself doing just that and more while serving in the United States military. Casey served two tours of active duty in the military overseas, one was in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. One tour had him delivering school supplies to children, and trying to help rebuild battered communities; the other had him in a vehicle that hit an IED at the front of a convoy, ejecting him from the vehicle as one of its only survivors. Regardless of your socio-political convictions pertaining to armed conflict, one undeniable fact is that the people who are deployed often experience extended periods and incidents of extreme stress; even worse, many are often left without an outlet to cope or a reliable support network from the very country they served. Casey suffered from extreme PTSD for much of his life after leaving active duty, and did not receive the treatment or support that he needed. Casey's life ended prematurely on November 1, 2013 at only 32 years old.

This piece serves both as a portrait of PTSD, and as a critique of its criminal lack of treatment in Capt. Casey McCausland's memory.

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