Royal Hastings, University of London Multimedia Art MA Final Project

Candidate name: Cameron Wesley

Candidate number: 0883483

Introduction:

Jem says our brains listen to our heartbeat all the time, even while we’re sleeping, so we’re naturally tuned in to sound and rhythm. It’s why a gentle, regular beat is soothing. If the beat slows, our heart slows too, because it instinctively matches the rhythm and flow of other hearts. I was excited for our project, but unprepared for how this team would change me. Our heartbeats merged and, in the process, we were all reshaped and twisted.

The team:

Teamwork is the essence of humanity, is it not? Many hands make light work. You can’t break a stick in a bundle. Group-think. I come from a business background and that means putting aside your feelings to make difficult decisions. Say someone in the team messes up. They make a humdinger of a booboo and there’s no going back. Doesn’t matter how much you like them, how good they are at their job – they have to go. If you make excuses to let them stay, you will regret it. The decision will haunt you , it will be used against you and it will destroy you .

Doodle message group [Private] Patrick and Jem, 17 January 2024:

Patrick Bright

There’s been a big row over the room. I’m happy to sleep in the car, but Cameron isn’t. Ludya’s desperate to get home, but there’s not enough charge in the people-carrier. She’s so tired she burst into tears. We’ve all been drinking, so will have to wait till one of us sobers up enough to drive. Cameron has only just tested under the limit, but we don’t want to risk him getting behind the wheel too soon, so we’re giving it a bit longer. Can’t message any more. Things are very strained.

Jem Badhuri

That’s hilarious! OMG , what a disaster! See you tomorrow – well, today now.

Doodle message group [Private] Jem and Gela, 17 January 2024:

Jem Badhuri

Hi Gela, lovely to work with you yesterday. I much prefer one-to-one interactions, and this construction project is totally my thing. I’ve had a lot of art tutors in my time, but you are by far the most inspiring.

Gela Nathaniel

Good. I enjoyed working with you too. Best get some sleep, though, we’ve got another busy day tomorrow.

Jem Badhuri

I’ve heard from Patrick and apparently the trip to Somerset is turning into a disaster. There was a big mix-up over the room, followed by an even bigger row, and now Cameron has to drive them all home as Ludya is so upset.

Gela Nathaniel

If the sourcing team visited the museum and collected the material as planned, then it was a successful excursion.

Doodle message group [Private] Gela and Cameron, 17 January 2024:

Gela Nathaniel

You’re coming back tonight now?

Gela Nathaniel

Of course you’re driving, so can’t answer.

Cameron Wesley

Yes. Driving back. Will drop the loot off at RH shortly.

Gela Nathaniel

But it’s nearly 2 a.m. What happened? What was the row about?

Cameron Wesley

Will bring you up to speed soon.

Doodle message group MMAM ( FTP ), 17 January 2024:

Jem Badhuri

A big welcome home to the sourcing team. Hope you had a lovely trip.

Jonathan Danners

We did. Thank you for messaging so early, Jem.

Jem Badhuri

Can’t wait to get my hands on all those old radio components. When will you bring them to the studio?

Jonathan Danners

They’re already there. We had to pass RH on the way back. Otherwise Ludya would have to drive back in again tomorrow.

Ludya Parak

And that ain’t happening.

Cameron Wesley

It’s all minging rubbish they were binning anyway.

Jem Badhuri

Isn’t the college locked at night?

Jonathan Danners

The overnight security staff all know Alyson. We explained, they were fine. The bags are piled up under the stairs if you fancy a rummage when you get in, Jem.

Jem Badhuri’s Doodle Diary, 17 January 2024:

Gela says keeping a diary will help with the long essay, so here I am. Well, what a day! We unpacked four sacks of goodies the sourcing team collected from Somerset. The general consensus was that RD 8 had taken this opportunity to get rid of every piece of junk they had – but I don’t see things like other people.

These old components will transform our fabric tunnel and, to complement them, I suggested we make papier-maché replicas of the more interesting pieces and embed them in the walls to create depth and fill space, because even though we have a lot to upcycle, it won’t be enough for what we’re planning. Also it means we can play with texture, especially if we use resin – I’m full of ideas.

I was excited to show the sourcing team the wire base that Gela and I worked on while they were away. Gela said they wouldn’t be as impressed as we both are. I showed them anyway. She was right. They were so tired they hardly spoke to me all day.

When the rest of the class went to lunch together, I stayed in the studio to eat my sandwiches and scroll through social media, as usual. But I was still buzzing, so thought I’d explore the cupboards and storeroom for more inspiration. The tunnel needs as many surface contrasts as possible. Imagine walking down it, stretching both hands out to either side, above you even, and feeling that texture as you go, stopping to examine anything that feels particularly interesting. Papier-maché, resin, clay – what else can we use? I rummaged around to see what might be hiding at the backs of shelves and cupboards.

Then, stuffed behind a box of books on the very bottom shelf, my fingers touched something that hadn’t been there before: an old radio. Dials, speaker, tuner, like the old Murphy from my childhood. I can’t explain it, but some things are so old they have an aura around them. When I was monitoring Alyson’s use of art supplies, I knew every item in this cupboard, and that old radio wasn’t there then. It wasn’t there yesterday, when Gela and I were searching for the rolls of modelling mesh Griff hid away (we eventually tracked them down to the top of the tall cupboard). No, this radio may be old, but it’s new to us.

The bags from RD 8 are full of bits and pieces. If the sourcing team got a whole radio, why didn’t they mention it? But more than that: does it work? Authentic sound from a genuine old wireless set would make my soundscape complete.

My imagination was racing ahead when I heard Patrick asking if I was OK. He was probably wondering what I was doing on the floor of the cupboard. When I showed him what I found, he was silent for ages.

Patrick Bright’s Doodle Diary, 17 January 2024:

Logged on to this diary part of Doodle. Maybe it’ll help. Why did I go to Somerset? It never felt right. Must’ve had a premonition.

We spent the first bit of the journey chatting about the course and all that’s wrong with it. Then we fell silent, as everyone but Ludya dropped off. We were woken up by her swearing the people-carrier through a flock of sheep, then a leafy gauntlet of winding country lanes that got ever narrower, with passing-points of frozen mud and terrifying blind corners. No signs and nothing that looked like the RD 8 facility. Finally we rounded a bend and there it was, perfectly disguised by the landscape. A grey, oblong building. No windows.

We knocked on the only door and waited. It was quiet as the grave. Like there weren’t even any birds around. Finally there was movement behind the door and a woman unlocked it, as if she was reluctantly letting us into a secret. She was friendly enough, but as soon as I got inside, it felt strange. It was muffled and quiet, a controlled atmosphere.

‘So you’re art students?’ The woman looked us up and down. ‘Only, you seem quite old.’ Jonathan explained it’s a Masters course, so we’re mature students. The woman smiled as if thinking: ‘You can say that again.’

We followed her through several locked doors that she opened with keypads. The corridors were dark and silent, the air perfectly still and cool. Then she opened another door and ushered us into the darkness. A click and the lights flickered on.

It was set up like a museum, but utterly spotless, not a speck of dust, and no other visitors. A dark cavern, lined up and down with old radios from the earliest days of the technology. Some were sitting on tables and others were sealed in glass cabinets, with gauges and dials monitoring the air. No light and a low temperature, as if they were trying to freeze time.

‘Do you never show anyone this?’ I asked. ‘Is it secret?’

The woman laughed. ‘No,’ she scoffed, ‘it’s not secret. Professor Brian Cox came here a couple of years ago to film a programme for BBC Four. We often invite corporate guests and host internal away-days for the London and Humberside offices. People who work in the communications industry love this place. Feel free to look around, but don’t touch anything . The materials are very old, and the oils in your skin will degrade them. When you’re ready, come back to reception and I’ll have some refreshments for you – we can’t let you eat or drink in here. I’ll make sure the items for your sculpture are ready when you leave.’

With that, she was gone, and we all fanned out around the room to look at the exhibits. Very impressive. I was captivated by a beautiful wooden radio: a Marconiphone Tombstone from 1933, according to the label. I sensed Alyson behind me. ‘The old and new,’ I said. ‘See the digital temperature gauge?’ A square of little red numbers glowed in the relative darkness.

‘That’s a hygrothermograph,’ she said, ‘it measures humidity, not temperature.’ Well, that told me.

I wandered around, fascinated by the displays. The others did the same. But just as I was at the far end of the room, about to turn round and make my way down the other side, there was a commotion by the door. Shouting, the clattering of shoes on a polished floor. More voices. I set off to see what it was, but as soon as it started, it was over and silence resumed. The voices sounded like Ludya and Jonathan, so when I came across Cameron scowling over his phone, I asked him what had happened.

‘Oh, Ludya kicked off about something. I wouldn’t worry about it. You got a signal, Pat?’

It was only Cameron and me in the museum now and it was quieter than ever. The door we had come in through was propped open by a rubber wedge, the only other door firmly closed and locked by a keypad. Ludya, Alyson and Jonathan must all have gone out. I crept a little closer to the door and looked through the crack. Ludya was pacing to and fro, also looking at her phone. Then she glanced up and down the corridor. There was a look on her face I’d never seen before. Focused. Determined. Calm. Usually she’s either bored to the point of couldn’tcare-less or on the brink of emotional meltdown.

‘Seen this, Pat? My cousins had one. Who’d have thought a lurid brick of plastic tat would ever end up in a museum?’ Cameron was looking at a 1987 Philips Roller. But I felt jittery and not sure why, so I wandered back out to the corridor.

‘Everything all right, Ludya?’

‘Yeah, me and Jonathan just had a …’ She trailed off as if something along the corridor had distracted her. I glanced up there myself, tried to see what she was looking at – nothing. ‘But it’s OK now.’

I made my way back to reception and found Jonathan and Alyson already there, waiting.

‘Is Ludya OK?’ I asked. ‘Thought I heard shouting—’

‘Jonathan surprised her, accidentally, and she made it clear that anyone approaching her personal space should announce it, in writing, days in advance.’ Alyson had her cigarettes and matches gripped in her hand. Her face, lips and knuckles were white.

‘Ah, she’s got a lot on her plate, and it must be difficult leaving the kiddies.’

‘I don’t see why,’ Alyson sniffed. ‘Her mum is looking after them.’

There was an awkward silence until the woman appeared and led us to a kitchenette where we found a little spread of sandwiches and cake.

‘Thanks for leaving me alone in Spookyville, mates ,’ Cameron boomed. Until then I hadn’t thought the place spooky, but once he said it, a shiver lodged in my spine.

Ludya joined us and I sidled over to give a few words of support.

‘Suffer with anxiety myself, Luds. I’ve jumped a mile in the air when someone’s come up behind me, and the first emotion that floods in after that is anger. I’m sure Jonathan didn’t mean anything.’

She just stared at me, and none of them spoke much the rest of the time we were there.

On our way out we were given not one but four huge bags of old radio components that weighed a ton. Ludya’s people-carrier groaned under the weight. I commented how excited Jem would be, but no one replied. Then Cameron mumbled that it was probably all junk. No one replied.

With the vehicle loaded up, off we went to a pub for dinner, and things gradually returned to normal. Until we arrived at the Travel Inn and the nightmare began. It was only the next day, when Jem found something in the cupboard, that I put the pieces together. Well, some of them.

Jem Badhuri’s Doodle Diary, 17 January 2024:

Eventually, Pat said Alyson and Jonathan got the radio from RD 8.

‘Then why hide it?’

He didn’t have an answer. ‘Jem, you’re a good girl, with a very fierce sense of right and wrong, but let’s not say we found it.’

‘But, Patrick,’ I said, ‘it’s perfect for the installation. Let’s see if it works.’