In 2000, Mark Hogencamp was brutally beaten by five men in a parking lot outside a bar in his hometown of Kingston, New York. When the ex-Navy man and carpenter emerged from a coma nine days later he could not speak, walk or even eat due to serious brain damage. Using art as therapy on his journey back to recovery, Hogencamp constructed a model village of elaborate dioramas in his backyard and populated it with barbie dolls dressed in WWII style clothing. The result is a fictional Belgian town, Marwencol that he photographs and creates elaborate storylines for that can be seen on his website. The plotlines in his stories are violent and gruesome yet filled with love and hope- for example the protagonist, also named Mark Hogencamp, finds himself in an isolated war-torn town populated only by beautiful women. On September 16th, our friends over at Esopus will be showing a selection of 50 photographs entitled “Picturing Marwencol” and in October, a documentary about Hogencamp and his work will start running at the IFC. Clip from the up-coming documentary below.