ISTD 2016 Student Submission
Awarded Pass
The death penalty is a punishment that is so permanent and absolute, there can be absolutely no room for doubt. Yet what if the person who was sentenced to death was doubtfully guilty? What if the law made a mistake and doomed an innocent person to their death instead? In my response to the ISTD brief, the ‘undiscovered country’, I address this controversy where, in 1955, in New Zealand, Walter Bolton was accused for the murder of his wife and was hanged for his crimes. Yet looking back, many still question whether he was truly guilty.
I took a dated approach to the format to take the reader back to the era of capital punishment in New Zealand. The narrative is adorned with headlines to convey the drama of the case and printed on 'China White' stock to create a historical aesthetic. Lines are used as a motif throughout the narrative for multiple purposes, such as to emphasise headings, to imprison the convicted and to conceal and censor hidden or otherwise discarded facts.
