Royal Hastings, University of London Multimedia Art MA Final Project

Candidate name: Patrick Bright

Candidate number: 0883480

Where it went right:

When the delegation from RD 8 descended on us in the studio it was like a murder of crows alighting on a newly sown field. They were everywhere. Picking things up, touching things, opening doors and drawers. But their reaction to the installation was something I wasn’t prepared for. And bear in mind at this point it looked in a sorry state. The tunnel was merely a length of fabric stretched across the room, folded and splayed out for us to glue the components on, while the head was a large wire frame only just starting to take shape with clay on a papier-maché base. Yet you could tell these boffin types were captivated. Impressed by a world they knew nothing about (because if they had known, they wouldn’t have been impressed at all). Still, I felt proud of the work.

There were moments like that during the course. Fleeting times when I felt buoyed by a good grade, or a positive comment from Gela. I only wish I could get that feeling from me and not have to rely on other people to approve of what I do. That’s the key to success, I’m sure. So long as I know what I’ve done is good or right, that should be enough.

Where it went wrong:

As I’ve said before, certain things were off from the get-go. But the few weeks we were all working flat out, heads down, making components to cover the tunnel, that was a more peaceful time. You see, there were four types of component: resin replicas we could make in the studio, but limited due to cost; papier-maché replicas we could make off-site; original components from the bags of junk that RD 8 supplied, painted and varnished (we could take those home too); and clay replicas – again we needed the studio for those.

At first it was hard to concentrate, but after a while I lost myself in the task. It helped me forget. I’ve mainly worked with people, staff, customers, suppliers, and have sketched in my spare time. But this was different. I could forget everything while I was making those items. Layering paper into moulds, gluing, painting and waiting – it’s repetitive enough that your mind moves into an automatic state. It stopped me thinking. Then I resented it when someone spoke and expected an answer. As soon as I was dragged out of that stupor, the thoughts came crashing back. Fear. Disbelief. Horror. Did certain things really happen, or were they all part of the art?

I thought about artists that were famously crazy. Were they mad to begin with, or sent mad by painting so much sky above the battleships? Or pressing clay onto the endless legs of a giant statue? You can see why the big names employ assistants. I know, I’ve had those assistants in the shop. It’s an unspoken fact. Makes you think about attribution. The fact is that we made that tunnel without Alyson or Cameron. The head is supposed to be Jem’s project, but Gela is putting just as much into it. Yet the installation will be credited to the six of us equally. And if we’re all responsible, who is guilty?

I can’t help wondering what everyone else has put in their essay about where it all went wrong. Because I blame Cameron, and Cameron alone. Then, God help me, I tried to put it right.

Doodle message group MMAM ( FTP ), 29 April 2024:

Gela Nathaniel

I’m in possession of RD 8’s extensive feedback. Forwarding Mae’s email to you all. My advice is to read, breathe and keep calm.

To: Gela Nathaniel

From: Mae Blackwell, RD 8 Systems Ltd

Date: 29 April 2024

Subject: Thank you

Dear Gela and the MMAM team, Firstly, may I say how much we all enjoyed our visit. It was an honour and a privilege to see our installation taking shape.

We’ve now had the chance to discuss where we want the project to go from here. I have collated those thoughts into a dossier of notes covering all aspects of the work, under a series of twelve general headings, followed by a page of references and a mood-board to accompany the section on ‘colour and ambience’ (compiled by the marketing team). However, I can summarise as follows:

Can we ensure the tunnel is of a sufficient size that people of all heights can walk upright through it with ease? If there is not enough material for this, perhaps think about turning it into a wall-frieze?

We know binaural sound is central to the ‘experience’ you intend to give our guests, but on reflection we’d prefer a more open and inclusive soundscape. I understand you feel headphones are important to your vision, but we would like you to rethink this and will pay an additional ￡500 to cover extra costs incurred by this change.

We’d like to see more specific references to our historical importance. Wary that the organisation of components on the tunnel walls might look like a jumble, pieces of white card with text explaining our history would be helpful.

Could we rethink the use of colour in the tunnel? Perhaps a cooler, more muted feel? Some components are painted in garish shades.

I’m sure these changes won’t take you long. If there are any further questions arising from this feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Mae

Doodle message group MMAM ( FTP ), 29 April 2024:

Patrick Bright

They don’t like one single thing about the installation.

Jonathan Danners

We shouldn’t act on our initial feelings. This is just a step on the road to making our client happy.

Patrick Bright

Have we even got time to repaint what we’ve already done?

Ludya Parak

Typical first notes from a new client. I once worked on an advertorial for L’Oréal that had over forty re-designs. No shit. We stopped counting at forty. It was only a page for a trade magazine.

Cameron Wesley

An honour and a privilege, she says? Shits, giggles and a happy tax accountant!

Patrick Bright

Hope you’re OK, Jem. I’m sorry your binaural project is on hold, after they seemed to love the idea in our pitch meeting. You’ll come up with a world-beating soundscape, I know.

Alyson Lang

Client privilege. They pay to change their mind. Also, that many peeps are going to have that much feedback. We’ll re-design, simple.

Jonathan Danners

Remember this course is all about adapting our skills to the workplace and the commercial world. We can demonstrate how versatile and flexible we are. We’ll sleep on these notes and tomorrow morning meet up in the studio. I’ll bring pastries.

Ludya Parak

Gluten-free and vegan.

Alyson Lang

Can’t make it.

Cameron Wesley

Ditto.

Doodle message group [Private] Patrick and Jem, 29 April 2024:

Patrick Bright

The client has no clue what works aesthetically. All they want is to feed their guests a dose of promotional patter with their canapés.

Patrick Bright

We’ll soon rework the installation. I bet we can switch it up in much smaller ways than they suggest and they won’t even notice it’s not entirely what they asked for.

Patrick Bright

Jem, please reply. I can see you’ve read my messages.

Jem Badhuri

They should respect the fact that my ideas have greater artistic merit than anything they have in mind.

Patrick Bright

I know. Criticism of a passion project is difficult to hear, but we’ll pull together and get through it.

Jem Badhuri

Pull together? Cameron has left. Alyson has stopped coming in. Gela is pretending they’re still here, for the sake of the course. Ludya is only motivated to work when there’s money involved, and Jonathan is a liar.

Patrick Bright

Jem, you’re just starting out. As the years go by, you’ll realise life is not so simple. Things happen, situations arise that you’d never imagine yourself getting into, but suddenly there you are. You have to put one foot in front of the other, rinse and repeat.

Patrick Bright

Alyson is working on a big new commission. That’s confidential.

Jem Badhuri

I’ve written to Mae with my thoughts, and now I’m going to bed.

To: Mae Blackwell, RD 8 Systems Ltd

From: Jemisha Badhuri

Date: 29 April 2024

Subject: A few points

Dear Mae,

There are things you should know about our course group. Two members have left. Cameron is apparently unwell and is only contributing the odd Doodle message (Doodle is Royal Hastings’ intranet) while Alyson Lang has got a mysterious art commission and is no longer coming in. Jonathan and Gela are creating the impression she’s here, when she isn’t. It’s just me, Pat, Ludya and Jonathan working on your installation.

In the light of these circumstances, I think you’ll understand our reluctance to implement the majority of your suggestions which, if we did them all, would mean a complete re-design of the whole project. There is simply not the time, the personnel or the budget to do so.

It is therefore my polite suggestion that you allow us to complete the final project to the best of our abilities. Some of your suggestions – such as making the tunnel a wall frieze, and diluting the impact of the soundscape to ambient muzak – can all be seen as counter-intuitive to a fully inclusive experience for your guests.

Yours,

Jem Badhuri

Doodle message group [Private] Jem and Alyson, 29 April 2024:

Jem Badhuri

Congratulations on your commission. I don’t suppose you can say what it is.

Alyson Lang

Thanks. You’re right. Client in the Middle East.

Jem Badhuri

I found out recently Jonathan is married to a girl called Suzie that he met on a university course he claims not to have done. Wondered if you knew.

Alyson Lang

Yes, I know. Thanks, Jem.

Jem Badhuri

Why would he lie about things like that?

Doodle message group [Private] Jem and Cameron, 29 April 2024:

Jem Badhuri

Hi Cam. How are you?

Cameron Wesley

Been better. You?

Jem Badhuri

A bit down about the RD 8 feedback.

Cameron Wesley

Chin up. Do what the client wants and smile.

Jem Badhuri

Even when you know it’s not the right thing?

Cameron Wesley

Especially then.

To: Gela Nathaniel

From: Mae Blackwell, RD 8 Systems Ltd

Date: 30 April 2024

Subject: A worrying matter

Dear Gela,

I’ve had an email from Jemisha, explaining why your group shouldn’t implement our suggested changes. She claims Cameron has left your MA course. Is that correct? If so, where is he? Without being alarmist, he still has something of ours. I need it back and he’s being obtuse.

Mae

To: Mae Blackwell, RD 8 Systems Ltd

From: Gela Nathaniel

Date: 30 April 2024

Subject: Re: A worrying matter

Dear Mae,

I’m in close contact with Cameron. He’s working on another project and is most likely abroad. I know what he has of yours is safe, because he told me it is, and I trust him.

Thanks to you and your team for such comprehensive feedback on the installation. It’s given the group a taste of real life – I look forward to watching them get over this psychological hurdle and pull together again. They’ve organised a coffee-and-cake-fuelled post-mortem for tomorrow. Jem is struggling to adapt to that aspect of the work, but the rest are very good with her. She’s a strong, positive individual with a fierce intelligence, talent and insight. She’ll come round.

Best,

Gela

Message group: 2024 Examiners, 30 May 2024

Ben Sketcher

I’m parked outside RD 8. It’s so quiet.

Karen Carpenter

The do doesn’t start till six. I’ve got a copy of the invite in my file.

Ben Sketcher

Could you forward that to me, please, Karen? I’d like to see what the evening entails.

Karen Carpenter

You fancy a knees-up, do you, Ben? Ha-ha! Here it is …

RD 8 Manufacturing are pleased to invite you to the launch of

ICES Integrated Cloud Exchange System 6 p.m. Champagne reception in the Atmosphere Room, followed by an exclusive unveiling of the long-anticipated ICES project that will usher in a new era in secure cloud-based payment systems

Invitations are strictly non-transferable

Tilda Ricci

You won’t try to get in, will you, Ben? If you embarrass us, they won’t support the university again.

Ben Sketcher

If a student is missing, as I suspect, then that student won’t be at the event. I just need to set eyes on them all. After that I’ll be happy.

Karen Carpenter

You want to count them all in, and count them all out, Ben! Yes, SIR!

Tilda Ricci

Please, be discreet.

Karen Carpenter

If they’re not there, they may simply have a cold. I’ve had a head-cold for three weeks.

Ben Sketcher

I can see the Atmosphere Room from here. It’s an event space near the front gate, decorated with branding. Visitors don’t have to go far into the complex. Catering staff are moving to and from the kitchen.

Karen Carpenter

How will you know who is who?

Ben Sketcher

I have everyone’s photograph – the ones taken for their ID cards at the start of the course.

Tilda Ricci

How did you get those? You don’t have access to internal records.

Ben Sketcher

I’m in touch with Hannah, the course administrator. She thought I should see them.

To: MMAM ( FTP ); cc: Gela Nathaniel

From: Jonathan Danners

Date: 30 April 2024

Subject: Next steps

Dear Team,

So, we’ve had a night to digest the notes, and a morning discussing them over coffee and cake. I’m pleased to say we’ve got all the weeping, wailing and hand-wringing out of our systems and are ready to see the installation in the light of all the changes we must make to it. The upside is that we now have an extra ￡500 to buy new materials, and possibly more, seeing as we no longer need to hire headphones or binaural equipment.

Jem will present a report into the state of our finances asap. In the meantime, I suggest we focus on taking the brightly coloured components off the tunnel fabric. RD 8 are happy to keep the head sculpture, as they felt it represented humanity in an otherwise technological presentation. However, perhaps we should give it more features, so it looks less like an android? Jem recently enjoyed a textured sculpture and has been inspired to rethink the head with a similar makeover. We also need to start work on the multimedia film of the company’s history. Ludya and Patrick will focus on that.

Meanwhile Jem, Alyson, Patrick and I will continue making components to a larger scale and with colourways indicated by the client.

Despite the client’s rejection of her binaural experience, Jem will rise to the challenge of rethinking her ambient soundscape to reflect the values RD 8 spoke about. She is the master of sound and we know she can do this. Thank you, everyone, for getting through what could have been the most unsettling stage of the final project.

Jonathan

Doodle message group [Private] Gela and Jonathan, 30 April 2024:

Gela Nathaniel

Good work today. Everything gone to plan?

Jonathan Danners

Why do you ask?

Gela Nathaniel

You weren’t yourself at the post-mortem.

Jonathan Danners

Everyone is down. Even Jem and Patrick.

Gela Nathaniel

It’s the stage you’re at. You’ve broken all the eggs, but haven’t made the omelette yet.

Jonathan Danners

Gela, don’t talk to me like one of your students, please. We’ll finish the course and get As – or whatever you give us. At least the whole thing is nearly over.

Gela Nathaniel

There’s one more assignment: you have to finish the final project, write your long essay and set up the installation for RD 8’s event. That’s it. Thank you again for this.

Jonathan Danners

What? We have yet another assignment??? This is ridiculous.

Gela Nathaniel

Yes, there are six assignments, as well as the final project and tutor assessment. It’s a coursework degree.

Jonathan Danners’ Doodle Diary, 30 April 2024:

This is bigger than anything RD 8 have ever developed. Is it their technology or someone else’s they’ve acquired over the years? Either way, I’m not surprised they’ve kept it to themselves. Edison and Tesla worked on technology to breach the barrier between life and death. Both were working post-First World War when so many people lost loved ones, leading to a resurgence in the popularity of spiritualism. Engineers are need-led. People need comfort. They need reassurance and to feel a connection to their dead sons and husbands. If either had succeeded, it would’ve been the discovery of the century, an eternal question answered and a commercial opportunity: everyone would want a Spiritfinder in their home. Received wisdom has it that neither did. But what if they had and the result was … horrifying? Not a comfort to the bereaved at all. But the opposite.

They would ‘need’ to bury the tech, get rid of it. But who destroys something they’ve created? Frankenstein couldn’t kill the monster. Artists don’t destroy their art. Nor do engineers. Eventually RD 8 found it, took it and kept it. Then so did we.

Doodle message group [Private] Jem and Gela, 30 April 2024:

Jem Badhuri

Is Alyson coming in to the studio at all before the event?

Gela Nathaniel

She has professional commitments to fulfil and can’t participate as fully as she’d like, but she’s very much on board still.

Jem Badhuri

When did you last speak to her – face-to-face or over the phone?

Gela Nathaniel

A few days ago. We message or she leaves notes in my pigeonhole when she’s been in overnight.

Jem Badhuri

Did you tell her we’re another person short, precisely when we’ve got to re-design the installation?

Gela Nathaniel

Jem, in the real world people must work to tight and moving schedules, colleagues leave or are absent, there are unforeseen problems and the team is understaffed to solve them. And exactly like in the real world, your value will be determined NOT by how you behave when things go right, but by how you respond when things go WRONG.

Jem Badhuri

Thanks, Gela. I feel a lot better.

Gela Nathaniel

That’s the spirit! Work on being a conscientious team member who goes with the flow. You can say all you want in your long essay about how the process unfolded.

Jem Badhuri

Thinking about Mae’s feedback, I’m sure we can come up with a new design that will blow RD 8 away.