LEGO War Toys Project — Ryan Mitchell

A combination of B&W, color, and personal journal entries from prior military service that shows the devastation of the impossibility of brotherhood in a context where death is inevitable and must not be taken for granted. Images created using practical effects of smoke, light, and high intensity shots of debris with constructed scenes in war-like settings. I want to show a complicated fantasy that was imagined prior to military service now being influenced by the reality of it years later. As a child growing up, building, playing, and fantasizing over the concept of war with LEGOs, I see the contrast of my expectations from my childhood. With knowledge now acquired from my military service I am showing the reality of war through a difficult lens of toys produced and imagined in a world where war is a simple heroic act of valor and dedication when in contrast it is cruel, dark, and unforgiving world of destruction and chaos that takes a toll on its soldiers.