As the identities of the 12 victims killed by a gunman in DC’s Navy Yard start to emerge, Madonna has issued a promotional picture of herself with a gun, surrounded by bodies.
Reps for the singer issued the picture as part of a press release today to promote the short film secretprojectrevoltion she co-directed with Steven Klein, which will be unveiled on September 24.
A press release explained the film was part of an initiative by Madonna, in conjunction with Vice Media and BitTorrent, to “further freedom of expression and protest persecution.”
Madonna is quoted as saying, “My goal is to show by the example of secretprojectrevolution my creative commitment to inspire change in the world through artistic expression. I hope my film and other submissions to Art For Freedom will be a call-to-action and give people a place to voice their own creative expression to help fight oppression, intolerance and complacency.”
Klein adds, “This film operates on many levels. It examines our private prisons. It questions what we do, how we do it, and how we treat others. It questions our governments, and our collective thought patterns. Think about it – the power of art can lead to peace.”
While numerous Madonna fans tell us the picture was first issued a while ago, the decision was still made to send it out wide in an email today to announce and promote her new initiative.