Making Soldiers: The Gas Mask c. 1917

Curator: The oppressive atmosphere is immediately striking, isn't it? The way the foreground figure looms, half-swallowed by shadow. Editor: Absolutely. Eric Kennington’s “Making Soldiers: The Gas Mask” presents a grim scene, likely depicting soldiers in World War I, grappling with the new realities of chemical warfare. The mask becomes a symbol of dehumanization, a tool both of survival and of psychic disintegration. Curator: It's a haunting premonition, that mask. It anticipates a future where bodies are simply vessels, protected and violated all at once. Does it succeed, I wonder, in safeguarding their humanity? Or does it ultimately erase what it means to be human? Editor: That tension is precisely what makes it so powerful. The gas mask points to the breakdown of humanity amidst the mechanized brutality of war. How can one maintain their identity in a world reduced to trenches and poison gas? Curator: The artist seems to be asking, what are these men truly fighting for when even breathing is a battle? Editor: Kennington’s stark imagery lays bare the alienation and existential crisis at the heart of modern warfare. Curator: A chilling glimpse into a world where survival comes at the cost of the soul.