Royal Hastings, University of London Multimedia Art MA Final Project

Candidate name: Patrick Bright

Candidate number: 0883480

I needed to think straight. No one else was. Suzie was trapped with the phone. Jonathan was obsessed with the voice. Ludya and I, we flitted back and forth between the two worlds, the house of darkness and the bright studio; Jem and Gela, the project. It was like moving between two layers of hell.

I had an idea to break the cycle: use epoxy resin to preserve the features that activate the phone. I didn’t know if it would work, and even if it did, it was a short-term solution. Organic matter of the density we had to preserve will eventually rot, even inside resin. Jonathan and Suzie were so intent on the unit and keeping Cameron talking to us through it. Their belief that it was him, their insistence we continue with the MA course … became normal to Ludya and me. That’s something they don’t tell you about teamwork. It can normalise the horrific. If you break everyone’s role down into their micro-responsibilities, then the horrific thing is only the sum of those parts. No one person feels responsible for the fuck-up in its entirety. A 3D version of ‘I was following orders’.

Cameron took a phone call while we were arguing about the room. It was from Mae and whatever she said, he hung up and made a grab for the radio in Ludya’s hands. Ludya could have let go of it, but she didn’t feel able to challenge Jonathan’s order to keep it safe. Suzie jumped to help Ludya, but Cameron pushed her aside and she slipped on the cheap carpet. That’s when I came out of the bathroom and saw him. Was it all my fault? They don’t feel responsible for what I did.

I hit Cameron, but what happened next wasn’t my idea. Jonathan was project leader of a sleeper unit that wanted to expose RD 8’s toxic tech. It wasn’t his fault Suzie stole it instead. Alyson and her sister Suzie lived on a rubbish tip in China until a British aid worker found and adopted them. The real Alyson became an artist. Suzie became an engineer, but she never lost her impulsiveness, or her instinct for survival. Who’s fault was that?

And me? I caused the main problem, so I felt I should at least help solve it. End the terrible cycle we were all trapped in. That’s another side-effect of teamwork. Lack of emotion, absence of empathy – whatever it is that got us that far down the road … is contagious.

Documents sent to me by Patrick Bright:

Somerset trip WhatsApp group members Jonathan Danners, Alyson Lang, Cameron Wesley, Patrick Bright and Ludya Parak, 22 April 2024:

Jonathan

Luds, is the car charged? We need it overnight.

Ludya

How far are you going? I need it for the school run tomorrow.

Jonathan

Seventy-five miles. We’ll have it back by then.

Ludya

I’ll take it to the rapid charging point now.

Patrick

Which of us is driving, Jonathan? We’ll need to sort out insurance.

Ludya

FFS ! Yeah, if you’re caught with body parts in the car, you don’t want to be done for lack of paperwork.

Jonathan

He’s right. The car is registered to a woman. If we’re caught on-camera and the police see it’s being driven by two men, it might ping their radar. We’ll both have to get insurance.

Patrick

You’re right, they’ll stop us for sure. What do we say?

Jonathan

That the owner gave us permission to use her vehicle and we’re going to Birling Gap to take photographs of the sunset for an art project. We remain calm and say WHATEVER to avoid a search.

Ludya

Where will you get rid of it?

Jonathan

A cove near Eastbourne. We’d go on holiday there when I was a kid. It’s always deserted and the tide is lethal. A van fell down the cliff once and in one tide it disappeared.

Ludya

My car had better be back by 6 a.m. with enough charge to reach Earlsfield.

Somerset trip WhatsApp group members Jonathan Danners, Alyson Lang, Cameron Wesley, Patrick Bright and Ludya Parak, 23 April 2024:

Suzie

It’s sinking. The drying powder is like quicksand. Patrick, get more, so we can pack it tighter at the bottom or this isn’t going to work long-term.

Jonathan

He’s driving. He says it’s not long-term, only for a few days. The powder is expensive.

Suzie

I don’t care how fucking expensive it is. And days are a long time when you have to do what I’m doing.

Jonathan

Would you rather do what we’re doing?

Jonathan

Thought not.

Jonathan

Luds, the car is on your drive. I’m bringing Pat back to the house to check on the bucket.

Ludya

Did the tide take it?

Jonathan

It’s low tide until midday.

Ludya

So, it’s lying on a beach somewhere, waiting to be found by rockpooling kids?

Jonathan

It’s not a beach. No one goes down there, and we hid it between some rocks.

Patrick

No one can see it, not even from the cliffs. The path is barely usable. It was hell getting down there.

Jonathan

We’re heading into RH to do a day in the studio with Gela and Jem. See you there, Luds.

Alyson Lang

OK, so finally I’ll do this …

Cameron Wesley has left the group.

Somerset trip WhatsApp group members Jonathan Danners, Suzie Danners, Patrick Bright and Ludya Parak, 26 April 2024:

Patrick

I think we can take the next step. I’ve sourced a large mould. All the chemicals we need are ready.

Ludya

I won’t be there. I’ve got kids’ stuff to do.

Patrick

I keep meaning to ask, Jonathan. Is there any chance I could be reimbursed for the materials? I can’t ask Jem for it. We need so much resin I’ve spent over ￡300 already, on top of the cost of the freezer, and I still need to get special masks to protect us from the fumes. The stuff is super-hazardous.

Jonathan

Reimbursed by whom? This isn’t a commercial operation, Pat. Our financial resources ran out long ago.

Patrick

You said you’re going to sell whatever tech there is in the unit.

Jonathan

If it still works after my experiment.

Suzie

You’ll get your share when we’ve sold it.

Patrick

What percentage?

Suzie

A quarter. There’s four of us.

Metropolitan Police digital evidence log/Case no. 4617655/24/ files retrieved 5 September 2024

WhatsApp chat between Suzie Danners and Jonathan Danners, 26 April 2024:

Jonathan

What are you saying? We’re not cutting either of them in.

Suzie

The promise will keep them onside and QUIET.

Jonathan

Fear of life in prison will keep them Q.

WhatsApp chat between Suzie Danners and Jonathan Danners, 30 April 2024:

Suzie

This between Mae and Cameron just now:

Mae

You’ve left the MA course?

Cameron

Like I said. On a new job.

Mae

You’ve got kiss-kiss and you’re AWOL .

Cameron

Not AWOL . Kiss-kiss is safe.

Mae

Where is it? Tell me it’s still within touching distance.

Cameron

Everything’s fine.

Mae

Because, like I told you, kiss-kiss is highly sensitive and we need it back at any cost.

Jonathan

Interesting. RD 8 know exactly what it is.

Documents sent to me by Patrick Bright:

Somerset trip WhatsApp group members Jonathan Danners, Suzie Danners, Patrick Bright and Ludya Parak, 30 April 2024:

Ludya

I’m in the studio, watching Jem beavering away on the clay head. Has it worked?

Jonathan

Next layer of resin just gone in. This is it. Will it still recognise him?

Ludya

Does it?

Ludya

Well?

Ludya

FFS ?

Jonathan

Yes. Yes! It’s clicked on. No alarm.

Ludya

Thank God. Now what?

Jonathan

We tune in to the voice again. Whoever is prepared to pay for this unit can witness the phenomenon before they buy.

WhatsApp chat between Jonathan Danners and Patrick Bright, 4 May 2024:

Jonathan

We need you to write a basic CV and make a webpage for Cameron’s Assignment Six; also, some of his long essay that he can send to Gela. We gave her all he’d written back in March, so merely a few paras about what he’s learned on the course since then.

Patrick

What would he have learned? He wasn’t here.

Jonathan

ANYTHING. Write what YOU learned. I don’t care. Just step up and help.

Patrick

I’ll try.

Jonathan

And if you want to apologise to him, be at the house 5 p.m. tonight.

Patrick

You’ve got through?

Jonathan

I’ve tried something. It might work and might not.

Patrick

OK.

WhatsApp chat between Patrick Bright and Ludya Parak, 4 May 2024:

Patrick

Jonathan wants me to apologise to Cameron. See if that changes what the voice says. He’s trying to set up a two-way broadcast.

Ludya

What do we do? I don’t know what to do.

Patrick

I’m going to turn up and apologise. Do what the project manager says.

Ludya

Will that be it, though? How do we end it, Pat?

Patrick

I don’t know if we can pull it off, but RD 8 have the means to get rid of everything. The radio, the phone and … everything else.

Ludya

The incinerator? I’ve already suggested taking everything and burning it all somewhere. But Jonathan won’t do it and he’s in charge.

Patrick

Then we’ll take it out of his hands, literally. RD 8 offered us the chance to burn the installation after the event. You and me, we take the unit, the resin block and the phone to RD 8 and incinerate the lot.

Ludya

How do we get it all past them? By ‘them’ I mean J, S, Gela, Jem, RD 8 and all the guests?

Patrick

We hide it all inside the head.

Ludya

Who will keep the phone quiet?

Patrick

We’re experimenting with taping the phone to the front of the resin block, so it can see the face all the time. The phone’s plugged into a powerbank, but it seems to know when it’s not been moved, and the times it needs a shake are inconsistent.

Ludya

Is there room for all that inside the head?

Patrick

Just about. It’s hollow. It has an open section at the bottom, where it was fixed to a stand before the redesign.

Ludya

The head would have to be sealed securely, and it’s not that kind of structure. Have you run it past S & J?

Patrick

S & J have lost their minds and if we keep following their orders, we’ll be lost with them. We have to think for ourselves, Luds. Not just think – act. For us.

Ludya

I know, but we’re a team. All in this together.