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Viewing single post of blog The Red Flag

It’s difficult to know where to begin, I have pushed so many doors, followed up so many leads, often drowning in red tape just trying to get access to these places. Much time was initially lost with MOD personnel being abroad and unable to return calls or having the wrong contact names or e-mail addresses. Wherever possible I began to talk to everyone I met about the project. Gradually I began to build up a picture of the history of this area.

Living in a village on the borders of the Porton down land, many of my friends work somewhere on the Plain whether in the MOD or within the DST L laboratories themselves and were able to furnish me with some fascinating information. Eventually with time slipping quickly away, one friend with a serious amount of clout within the organisation managed to get me a meeting with the media department.

Salisbury plain is split between the land managed by the MOD for military training and the chemical and biological defence laboratories, managed by the organisation DST L. With three months having passed with little more having been achieved than a lot of e-mails whizzing back and forward I finally had meetings lined up with both organisations. Before any filming could take place, I would need to reassure them that no security would be breached.

Arriving at DST L I had the required security clearance at reception and a driver was summoned to take me to building five. ‘Wow! Building Five?’ he said with raised eyebrows, making me more than a little nervous. When I got there I was brought into a room with eight people around the table. I passed out my handouts, details of the exhibition, the proposed work and the list of the areas and items I was hoping to film in the coming months.

To cut a long story short, it was not an easy meeting. One by one we went down the list as each item was crossed off and denied. My intentions were challenged and time and time again I had to gather up my resolve and keep pushing. I had come so far to get this meeting I couldn’t let myself crumble and leave without anything gained. Eventually we agreed on a few possibilities that could be explored and a plan to move forward.

I guess I got a taste of what it’s like outside of the world of socially engaged art projects, teaching, exhibiting etc. No one was going to hold my hand through this process and it was quite clear this was going to be a seriously steep learning curve.


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