Title: Justice Erased

Artist: Martha Deed

Country: UNITED STATES

Medium: Electronic Animated

Artist Statement: Annette Montstream's signed confession relating her role in killing her husband, John, appears unambiguous, but truth is erased as the murder confession is processed through the criminal justice system. The resulting highlighted text reflects a defense strategy used to defend the alleged shooter in three trials.

Justice Erased is one of three erasures created to show what happened during an actual murder prosecution. Wife's Statement and John's Statement complete the cycle.

Martha L. Deed is a poet (SHAMPOO, The Awakenings Review, Miller's Pond Online - forthcoming), writer and psychologist. The concept of "erasure" is particularly applicable to her research and writing about a particularly troubling murder in western New York.

Millie Niss, who collaborated with Deed on the design and execution of this project, is a web artist with numerous online credits(Attic, Bannerarts, Word Circuits, Rhizome/Hyperrhiz) and poet (The Buffalo News, Beehive, MAG). A member of Webartery, she has created her own website: www.sporkworld.org.

Artist Tools: The original text is page 6 of Annette Montstream's confession of her role in her husband, John's, murder. The overlay is Martha Deed's photograph of John's columbarium plaque at Trinity Episcopal Church, Greece, NY. The animated gif was created through the use of Photoshop, Fireworks MX and Flash MX.

Date Entered: 2/28/2003 6:58:10 PM

Text Version: Statement lawyer to state this body is John is a false statement