Projection of Natalie Bookchin's "Laid Off" series.
In June of 2009, I lost my job. I was informed by phone while on vacation with my wife and three-year-old son. We were staying at a cabin in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands and the news punctuated what had been a great trip. Within seconds I made the swift transition from employed to unemployed, and that moment when reality came crashing remains unmatched.
Digesting that type of news is difficult. You experience anger, sadness, self-pity, and relief all at once. It’s that unraveling range of emotions, and the personal stories it creates, that artist Natalie Bookchin tackles in her video installation “Laid Off” (view above), which is part of her Testament series.
