In past times, fortifications and great walls stood as visible public testimony to the need for constant vigilance against enemy attack.  Newcastle’s Black Gate and Castle Keep have, throughout history, been the site of various sieges and, notably, two of these took place during construction works whilst the guard was down.   The Cathedral has also played a strategic role, employing human shields to defend the city:

Tradition has it that during the siege of Newcastle in 1644, when the Scots army, under the Earl of Leven, threatened to blow up the church with a cannon, the Major, Sir John Marley, put his Scottish prisoners in the lantern tower and thus saved it from destruction.

Local political stability is these days more secure, and the ‘New-Castle’, like all technology it seems, has fallen into obsolescence, to be regarded with nostalgia.  Any message of ‘constant vigilance’ is much better conveyed today ‘virally’ through news headlines and train station announcements, so I ask myself: “What NOW is an appropriate use of this kind of ‘public realm’?”

My thoughts trace back to a presentation given by the artist Krzysztof Wodiczko during 2009’s inaugural ANDfestival: “MACHINE TO FIRE THE TRUTH”…

For the piece ‘War Veteran Vehicle,’ Krzysztof Wodiczko transformed a military Land Rover, replacing what would normally be an onboard weaponry system (missile launcher, radar device etc.) with his high powered ‘projection battlestation’ – a video projector and public address system which visually and acoustically blasted words and voices of traumatised soldiers against the blind and deaf walls of the city “…as if a continuation of war.”

Wodiczko worked with UK servicemen and women and their families, recording discussions about the experience after returning from a warzone. He described this process as very difficult, partly because overwhelming experiences can prevent people from speaking easily, but also, because the M.O.D. were unsupportive. One of the veterans, Rob , talked about his own internal self-censorship – “something that the army puts into you (like a chip) which dictates “you can’t say this” and “you can’t say that.”

Soldiers today are trained like machines to relish the battle – however, the training does not extend to ‘un-training’ and a return to civilian life.  Soldiers are trained to control their emotion (‘opening up’ is a sign of weakness) but every so often one of these machines goes wrong: former soldiers make up nearly one-tenth of the UK prison population.*

“the city speaks in what it says and in what it does not say” – Wodiczko

Aggressively situating these citizen testimonies in public space is an attempt to break through the wall of silence.  Wodiczko explained that the action must be aggressive since we are already relentlessly bombarded by advertising, information and news – resulting in our typical symptom of public experience: ‘numbness.’

The ‘War Veteran Vehicle’ speaks loudly and eloquently on behalf of those who cannot speak, and suggests an alternative democratic role for our public space: “the city as mouthpiece for the people”.  Wodiczko located his work in a historic trajectory, citing an obscure ancient Greek term – parasia – meaning “a special right of free, frank and open, fearless speaking in public space.” This notion encapsulates an obligation and duty to critique authority, denounce what is wrong and shake up public consciousness.  The “War Veteran Vehicle” acts as ‘parasiasta’ – bringing to shoppers and heritage visitors voices returned from the far and distant conflicts which are granting our perception of security.

*source Guardian

Watch the whole of Krzysztof Wodiczko’s “MACHINE TO FIRE THE TRUTH” presentation at FACT.tv

Abandon Normal Devices commissioned me to conduct an experiment at FACT this week, based on my “Message equals Medium” photographic archive of text messages.  The result was a subtle intervention into the Btween09 “bells and whistles” new-tech / social-media / business conference.

The idea was, that the work should stimulate discussion around the ‘human-face’ of technology and act as a trailblazer for September’s inaugural ANDfestival in Liverpool.

Inadvertently  :-) the work was actually interpreted as a REAL WORLD model for a NEW TECH business – uh-oh!  (see vid below…)