N.O.K – NEXT OF KIN
N.O.K examines the ways in which American families memorialize their relatives killed in military conflict. Abergil traveled throughout the U.S. to meet with relatives of fallen soldiers and military personnel and to document their methods of coping with loss through the preservation of personal effects. Her ongoing interest in the representation of war has led her to look beyond the phenomenon of large public monuments and to focus instead on the personal altars and private displays of mementos maintained by families. Small, private monuments exist in garages, basements, attics and storage lockers across the United States. Families must decide which objects to keep, what to take with them or let go of when they move or as time passes. Through images and testimonials, Abergil’s project honors the dead while at the same time giving voice to a community of survivors who keep memory alive as they strive to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of loss.