tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21744777089592209342024-02-18T17:45:36.314-08:00WTF is Neurocam? Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-56891734907976596712014-10-06T01:20:00.001-07:002014-10-06T01:20:27.062-07:0006 Meeting Charles Hastings<div class="page" title="Page 141">
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">In the days that followed my meeting with <i>The Vorticist</i> I became increasingly agitated about
the impending results of the career advancement assignment. After two weeks I began to think
that no contact from Neurocam might mean that I had been cut adrift. The sense of loss I felt
about possibly not having Neurocam in my life anymore made me realise how much the
experience meant to me. I checked in with my Neurocam friends and none of them had heard
from Neurocam either, which made me feel slightly better. It was extremely frustrating not
having been told what the timeframe for possible promotions might be; our assignments had
always been regular as clockwork, but this was a different situation and once again we were at
Neurocam’s mercy. Part of me felt angry and annoyed at this constant power imbalance—
Neurocam were always in control and there was nothing we could do about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">During this unbearable waiting period I kept myself occupied with many hours on the Internet
attempting to join together the many dots of random information pertaining to a possible
explanation of </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">what </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam actually was. With a clear image in mind of a bunch of people all
wearing identical white kabuki masks and playing chess in a local bar, I came across an
interesting reference to a phenomenon called <i>Flash Mobs.</i> <i>Flash Mobs</i> were created in New
York during 2003 by Bill Wasik, and are described by him as “a public gathering of complete
strangers, organized via the Internet or mobile phone, which performs a pointless act and then
disperses again."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The idea had spread rapidly throughout the US and then internationally to many major cities
around the world. Examples of recorded “Flash Mob” events include shopping for a ‘love rug’ for
a fictitious commune, silent discos where participants gather and dance while listening to music
on headphones, pillow fights, synchronised swimming in public fountains, gathering in hotel
lobbies and cheering onlookers. I read of a hilarious account of a <i>Flash Mob</i> in Melbourne
CBD, where hundreds of people had appeared out of nowhere and started a mock shoot-out </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">wielding bananas, before disappearing minutes later into the crowds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">While the actions played out by the crowds in Wasik’s Flash Mobs didn’t appear to have any
obvious socio-political agenda, Nick Tapper in an article for The New Critic points out that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Seeing how all culture in New York was demonstrably commingled with scenesterism,
the appeal of concerts and plays and readings and gallery shows deriving less from the
work itself than from the social opportunities the work might engender, it should
theoretically be possible to create an art project consisting of pure scene—meaning the
scene would be the entire point of the work, and indeed would itself constitute the
work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So Wasik appeared to be facilitating a process where a form of social interaction created unique
and temporary works of art where the people themselves become the show, and in a sense,
create something which is entirely experiential. I wasn’t convinced that Wasik was creating art,
as the idea seemed more aligned with experiments in social networking than the construction of
artworks involving a radical new approach to audience participation. Also, Wasik did not claim at
any point to be an artist and often said in interviews that he created <i>Flash Mobs</i> because he
thought they were funny. It was possible however that the very existence of <i>Flash Mobs</i> could
be challenging art’s boundaries in light of what people were doing with live art and conceptual
art, where the work focuses on a performance, action or event rather than a tangible permanent
outcome.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">All the same, the similarities to some of Neurocam’s recent activities couldn’t be ignored.
Neurocam was indeed similarly organising groups of people to participate in public acts for no
obvious reason other than curiosity or a need to be part of something. The difference was that
Neurocam’s public participatory acts were not random or pointless to those involved; they were
part of a narrative trajectory. It could be said however that these acts were </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">completely </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">random
and pointless to an outside audience. I thought of what the general public would have made of
the treasure hunt at Bolte Bridge and the masked chess tournament at Prudence. I also
wondered if Neurocam’s overall narrative trajectory, if there was one, could be just as random </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">or pointless as the Wasik’s one-liners. This was a strangely uncomfortable thought. What if I
had wasted considerable amounts of my time on something completely pointless?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I questioned what would make people want to participate in <i>Flash Mobs</i>. In an (online)
interview with Stay Free magazine, Wasik says that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">People have been spending a lot of time in virtual communities since the Internet took
off, and I think people liked the flash mobs because they had an Internet component,
yet allowed you to see this virtual community made literal and physical.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This was an interesting idea as it pretty much mirrored what was happening with my Neurocam
experience on a smaller scale. I now had online friends who were loosely part of what Wasik
was calling a ‘virtual community’. We were like a club with one thing in common—Neurocam
participation. The group assignments were hugely appealing because we also got to see the
virtual world of Neurocam played out in the physical world. The only thing missing however,
were some of the virtual players in our community such as Mr Hastings and Ms Fischer. But it
was early days and there was no telling what might be in store if I was promoted.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">A word that had been cropping up often in my research into the idea of <i>Flash Mobs</i> and virtual
communities was ‘meme’. According to Wikipedia:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">A meme consists of any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by
learning or imitation. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, gestures, practices,
fashions, habits, songs, and dances. Memes propagate themselves and can move
through the cultural sociosphere in a manner similar to the contagious behavior of a
virus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Apparently Richard Dawkins invented the word ‘meme’ in his book <i><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/31/the-selfish-gene-richard-dawkins-review" target="_blank">The Selfish Gene</a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 8px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">(1976)
to describe how one might extend evolutionary principles to explain the spread of ideas and
cultural phenomena. Wasik’s <i>Flash Mobs</i> were the perfect example of a ‘meme’ in the way they
started off purely as an idea and then spread rapidly through the Internet, like a virus. Wasik </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">says in another interview that:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">... </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">the whole meme-making thing is weird. I have friends who basically make memes for
a living--for art projects that involve spreading ideas through the Internet. But things
spread for reasons that are unknown to all of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I found the idea of a new breed of artists spreading ideas across the Internet absolutely
fascinating. It made sense that the web was radically changing the way information was
accessed and propagated, but it was amazing to think that people, even artists, were
specialising in this area. Certainly <i>Flash Mobs</i> had countless forums and chat rooms all over
the web, which were propagating the idea like a virus. I wondered what would happen to
Neurocam if the veil of secrecy were removed and people all over the World started blogging
about their Neurocam experiences. If this happened I would certainly be excited about the
opportunity to share my findings with the Neurocam community and would strive towards being
the first person to get to the bottom of the mystery. Outside of the Internet it was entirely
possible that Neurocam had already become a meme; it was ostensibly a kind of theory, set of
ideas or way of thinking that was spreading across the cultural landscape of our society. I
wondered how many thousands of people all around the world might be involved and how many
Neurocam-related emails were pinging back and fourth through cyberspace. If we, the
participants, were making Neurocam what it is, then it was likely that there were considerably
more of us than we imagined.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Several days later I finally received my much anticipated email from Mr Hastings. To my dismay,
his message did not shed any light whatsoever as to whether or not I was to be promoted. This
was extremely frustrating after waiting so long to hear back from them. Hastings merely ordered
that I show up at Darling Gardens in Clifton Hill the following night. I was to wait by a rotunda at
precisely 11pm, which I thought was rather late for me on a weeknight and altogether somewhat
ominous. Although it was good news that I had heard from Neurocam, I was somewhat taken
aback by this latest development. Meeting persons unknown in a park in the middle of the night </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">was significantly increasing my level of commitment and trust to worrying proportions. I felt
strangely manipulated by Neurocam—they had put me in a position where I had become so
obsessed and so worried about being cut off that I would do practically anything they asked of
me. Still, I guessed that if I wanted to get the most out of whatever kind of experience this was, I
would simply have to continue to follow orders. Part of me also wanted to expose them once and
for all, and I knew that the only chance I had of doing this was to continue my involvement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That night I came across a reference to a project that had happened before <i>Flash Mobs</i> became popular, which was dealing with similar themes in a far more sophisticated way. In 2001
Tim Etchells—in collaboration with the Huddersfield Media Centre in the UK—had developed a
project called <i><a href="http://www.timetchells.com/projects/works/surrender-control/" target="_blank">Surrender Control</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">where anonymous SMS messages instructed participants to
engage in bizarre behaviour. Participants were recruited into the project via a catchy marketing
campaign using flyers in bars and magazine ads which asked, “Do you want to surrender
control?” and listed a phone number. Those who responded with a text message stating “yes”
were then inducted into the project and sent a series of SMS messages beginning with
innocuous questions such as, “What did you do last night?” and escalating to demanding
participation in physical actions like knocking things over, breaking things and touching two
people at the same time. At the conclusion of a participant’s involvement they were given a
message asking them to forget everything they had experienced.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In an online article discussing <i>Surrender Control</i>, BBC Go Digital’s Jon Wurtzel says that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">With this project, The Media Centre aims to disrupt the patterns and routines of urban
behavior with the random and unexpected. If you are on a train, following the instruction
to touch two people at the same time will have a different implication than if you're in a
business meeting. Surrender Control provides an excuse to escape routine, to behave
differently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This struck me as being uncannily similar to Neurocam in terms of the project’s overall
objectives. I thought about some of the unusual ways I had been behaving over the past few </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">months—retrieving objects from safes and train station lockers, searching for missing items with
a group of total strangers, stalking random members of the public and playing masked chess.
These unusual activities had certainly provided an excuse to escape routine and behave
differently, and receiving my instructions via email was not dissimilar to Etchells’ SMS delivery.
Neurocam was indeed also disrupting patterns and routines of urban behaviour with the random
and unexpected, but to what end? The Media Centre seemed to view this process as an end
result in itself, much like Wasik’s <i>Flash Mobs</i>, but was Neurocam simply another clever one-
liner? <i>Surrender Control</i> was probably the most similar type of project to Neurocam that I had
come across so far, as Etchells had constructed an actual dialogue with his participants in which
a kind of relationship of trust was formed. Wasik was simply ordering people to carry out single,
unrelated acts, but Etchells was starting off with questions, gradually upping the anti and daring
participants to go further and further away from their comfort zones. <i>Surrender Control</i> also had
the additional impact of participants working individually rather than in the safety of a group
situation. The completely anonymous nature of Etchells’ project was something that I had only
ever seen with Neurocam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So, was Neurocam just an elaborate media artsy project? Although it was entirely likely that an
organisation like The Media Centre in the UK could be running Neurocam, part of me wanted to
believe that there was infinitely more to it. Besides, after looking into the workings of media arts
organisations, I really didn’t think that they would have the extensive funding available to run
such large-scale international projects, especially with no source of generated revenue or even
promotional opportunities. Once again I found myself facing the usual question—if Neurocam
wasn’t a media arts project, then what was it? My mind wandered off into some of the more
extreme possibilities such as a government conspiracy to gather information and control its
citizens, or a bizarre psychology experiment funded by some excessively wealthy drug company.
It seemed that almost anything was possible at this stage.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The following day at work I was nervous and distracted. I couldn’t stop thinking about my strange
appointment that night and what it might entail. I had a strong feeling that something was about
to happen which would significantly impact on my Neurocam involvement. To while away the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">dragging hours I surreptitiously browsed the Internet in my seemingly never-ending quest for
answers. While looking further into the idea of audience participation within some of the new
kinds of interactive projects I had been looking at, I came across an interesting interview with
media arts curator Rudolf Frieling talking about a 2005 show at San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art entitled <i><a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/306" target="_blank">The Art of Participation</a></i>. The show was essentially a showcasing of
participatory artworks from the 1950s until today featuring many famous artists from the art
historical archives. Frieling, in an attempt to shed light on some of the more obscure works in the
show, says that:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">We know what it means to participate in politics or school, and sometimes know what it
means to participate in a work of art if we get clear instructions. However there are
some projects where it is unclear what exactly is asked of you, or you can only find out
by actually doing something. The work requires your input and your act of
contribution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Participating in works where one can only find out about the nature of engagement by actually
doing something was an idea that resonated strongly for me in light of recent events. Again I
came back to the idea that Neurocam might be a project positioned more in the realms of
contemporary art than the more general genre of media arts. While Frieling was talking about
works such as Erwin Wurm’s <i><a href="http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/07/erwin-wurm-bizarre-one-minute-sculptures-4720324/" target="_blank">One Minute Sculptures</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">where participants have to interact with
everyday objects to create impromptu sculptures with their bodies, the essence of this idea
seemed to be a key to understanding my Neurocam experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Assuming that Neurocam </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">was
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">an interactive artwork, it was true that the terms of engagement were unclear in spite of
receiving what seemed on the surface a clear set of instructions. It followed that the nature of
my experience was to be determined by me actually completing the tasks I was set. And also,
Neurocam, much like Wurm’s sculptures, required the input and contribution of participants to
</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">become </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">a complete work. It now seemed obvious to me—Neurocam needed us operatives to
exist. Considering this, I felt better about what I was about to do that evening. I was still
however a little confused about the idea of a work that, unlike all other examples I had seen, did
not seem to have a fixed point of conclusion or resolution. When was Neurocam complete?
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Freiling went on to discuss the idea of “open works of art” which went some way towards
answering my questions about the open-ended nature of Neurocam. He states that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The idea of “the open work of art” goes back to a 1962 book by Umberto Eco, in which
he reflects on developments within contemporary art and music where the results of the
artwork were not predefined, but rather could change over time, or change by
interpretation. He said, in the whole history of art, the act of looking is a kind of
interpretation; it’s always different and each one of us sees art in a different way.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Saying that each of us sees (or interprets) art in different ways was somewhat obvious, but the
idea of a work with no predefined outcomes that could change over time was very interesting.
Did Neurocam really not have a fixed point of conclusion? Events thus far suggested that our
Neurocam experiences had been meticulously scripted by Neurocam’s puppet masters,
although there was obviously considerable room for our interpretation within this process. In
terms of my own interpretation of Neurocam as a possible artwork, my ideas had most
definitely changed over time as I had encountered new things. So far I had been playing by
Neurocam’s rules as they had strongly urged, with the threat of dismissal, but I wondered how
things would have played out if I had not done so. Would they have simply thrown me out?
Even if I had been dismissed from their organisation, that would have constituted an ending of
sorts, a fixed point of conclusion to the experience of the work. This reminded me again of <i>Strangers and Intimacy</i>, and how each person who attended their live artwork would have
gone home with a different story to tell.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">It occurred to me that Neurocam may </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">not </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">have expected us to blindly play along with
everything they asked of us; that they might be frantically scurrying around behind the scenes
trying to come up with new material for us every week. I had no idea who was at the controls,
how many of them there were, or what kind of resources they had at their disposal. I had
always assumed that they had been working on a large scale and unlimited timeline, but I had
no real evidence to base this on. The latest development within the narrative certainly
suggested that things might be reaching their conclusion for a lot of participants. I hoped I
wasn’t one of them and I hoped that the people behind Neurocam weren’t getting to the end of
whatever it was they had been working on. I had become somehow emotionally invested in </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">whatever it was they were creating and I didn’t want it to end.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On the whole I found the interview with Frieling rather thought provoking, but I had to remind
myself that however radical some of the ideas he discussed were, he was still operating well
within the institutional confines of an art museum:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In this exhibition, we’re interested in ways people can contribute to a work not only by
looking—but also by interacting, participating in a group dynamic, or contributing to an
artwork. We go, in other words, beyond the viewer.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I could understand what he was getting at with the idea of participatory group dynamics
shaping the outcomes of a work, but I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by the (rather
pretentious) statement about going “beyond the viewer”. Obviously an approach to
experiencing art that involved hands-on participation took the audience beyond the usual
(passive) relationship with an art object, but to what end? Were they temporarily losing
themselves in the work? The ‘viewer’ still knew that they were in an art context and that they
were expected to interact with the work in some way. Even the title of the show Frieling was
talking about made this rather obvious. I considered many of the art exhibitions I had seen
where the audience always assumed that interaction was not an option. The somewhat
precious nature of art in galleries or art museums always made me resist my instincts to
experience what a material felt like, or play around with the arrangement of exhibited objects.
What if some of these artists had been open to an interactive experience with their work, but
had simply not advertised the fact? With art projects like Maling’s <i>Project George</i> and <i>Strangers and Intimacy</i>, interaction was not so much a choice, rather something that the
audience was forced to confront. The only way to not interact in these situations would have
been to leave the premises, but I guess even that would have resulted in an experience of
sorts.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">One of the works in <i>The Art of Participation</i> that I found conceptually interesting was a piece
called <i>Automatic for the People</i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">, staged by New York artist duo MTAA. MTAA staged a </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">performance that was entirely designed by the audience through a ballot process where people
voted on each of 10 details making up the work—the location, props, duration etc. Frieling
proposed that this work was significant within the theme of the show because it, “</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">...</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">deliberately
blurs the roles of artist and audience, creator and viewer.“</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This was a new take on interactive performance works in which the audience had (some)
creative control over the outcomes of the actual work. Here, the work was still shaped by the
audience, but they were also controlling the situation. What if I were to take this approach with
Neurocam and start manipulating events myself? Was this even possible?
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><i>Automatic for the People</i> reminded me of a work I had read about recently entitled <i>Chris Barr
is available on Thursday</i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">, where American media studies student Chris Barr launched a
project during 2005 in which ideas for events, actions and situations were submitted by the
public to be carried out by Barr himself every Thursday for two months. He then documented
these events and posted them on the project website. Among the hundreds of tasks he carried
out over this period, some examples were:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Visiting someone who lived in a nursing home who wanted someone to talk to.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Finding poems by female poets, photocopying them and posting them in male
restrooms.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Taking a walk wearing two different shoes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Composing a letter to the FBI, requesting his FBI file.</span></div>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Although this was not framed as an art project, what struck me about Barr’s experiment was the
way in which full creative license was given over to the general public, essentially allowing them
to put him in any situation they chose. There appeared to be no obvious links between Barr’s
assigned tasks, although they seemed to be vaguely associated with disrupting social norms.
Unlike MTAA’s work where the audience were limited to a set number of options on which to
vote, Barr’s work opened up the possibility of random members of the public giving him
‘assignments’, which would potentially challenge him in all kinds of ways. I found it fascinating to </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">think that his audience could place him in situations that they themselves could conceive of but
(presumably) never actually go through with. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">It made me think of the assignments Neurocam
was giving us and who was actually writing them. Barr’s work seemed somehow like the inverse
of projects like Neurocam or Miranda July’s <i>Learning to Love You More</i> in that it involved
assignments being created by the audience and given to the artist, rather than vice versa.
Interestingly, the work was still just as dependent on audience participation and would not have
survived without it. It brought to mind the fundamental question I was grappling with at present
in relation to this type of art practice—who is ultimately responsible for the creation of the work,
the artist(s) or the audience? Frieling seemed to be correct in his premise that these kinds of
works were indeed blurring the roles between artist and audience, creator and viewer, creating
a re-working of these distinctions.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After several hours of immersing myself in researching interactive art projects when I should
have been working, I felt more confused than ever about what was happening in the art world
these days, what could be considered art, and the ever-changing role of the audience. I set off
home in need of a glass of wine and some mindless television viewing before my nefarious
late-night rendezvous with the cam.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Later that evening I arrived at the dimly lit Darling Gardens wielding a takeaway coffee and
made my way to the small rotunda in the centre of the area. As I grew closer I noticed a man.
He was in his early-thirties and looked as if he was waiting for someone. I introduced myself
and discovered that he was also a Neurocam operative waiting for something to happen. He
seemed just as nervous as I was, and perhaps because of this, willing to talk about his
Neurocam involvement. His operative name was “Tript” and he had been with Neurocam for
about a year and had completed several assignments, the latest being the masked chess
tournament at Prudence. We speculated about what the night may have had in store for us and
assessed the potential risk we were taking. I told him about my theory that Neurocam was
some new kind of narrative-based experimental art project and he seemed to disagree with this
idea, saying that he thought Neurocam was most likely some kind of television initiative like an </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">urban version of <i>Survivor</i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><i>,</i> and that we would most likely end up on some reality TV show. I
asked him if this was what was motivating him and he said “No”, it was simply “</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">...</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">one hell of a
ride and he wasn’t ready to get off yet”. We both agreed that an organisation with billboards in
major cities around the world was not likely to represent anything harmful or untoward, but I
sensed that during that moment in time neither of us were entirely convinced.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">As if precisely on cue, our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of two cars outside the
park. Six black-clad figures emerged wearing black kabuki masks and began making their way
towards us. “Tript” and I looked at each other, he whispered urgently, “Should we run?” Rooted
to the spot with indecision, we were soon surrounded by the black figures, who seemed to be
wearing some kind of strange insignia on the foreheads of their masks. One of them, who may
have been the leader, greeted us curtly and told us that we were going on a trip to a secret
location and that we would have to agree to being blindfolded before undertaking this journey.
He said that we could choose not to go, but if we did, our Neurocam involvement would be
over and we would never hear from them again.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I could simply walk away and it would all be over, or I could take a massive leap of faith and let
myself be swept up in whatever was about to happen. I felt as if my entire Neurocam
experience had been leading up to this moment and it was impossible to walk away, in spite of
being absolutely terrified. The ‘leader’ told us that we didn’t have all night and asked if we were
coming. I made eye contact with “Tript” and he nodded and I nodded back. The cliché ‘safety in
numbers’ echoed somewhere in the recesses of my consciousness. The masked figures
produced two large paper shopping bags and placed them roughly over our heads, blocking
out the night. As we were led to the waiting vehicles, I kept thinking of “Ivan’s Dogs” while I
clutched my still scalding hot coffee.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Inside whatever car I was led into, strange music started up on the stereo as the driver turned
on the ignition. It was some kind of meditation mantra mixed with techno beats. It was hypnotic.
None of the other people in the car said a word as we sped through the streets to our </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">mysterious destination. I found it quite surreal that I was essentially being abducted in the
middle of the night by a bunch of scary people in black masks and was at this moment being
driven around with a bag over my head. I wondered why other motorists weren’t calling the
police and how they could get away with this sort of thing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After what seemed like about half an hour of driving we pulled over and I was led out of the car
and put into another car. The new car was a bigger vehicle, a 4WD diesel or something, and
they had some kind of industrial soundscape playing on the stereo that produced the visceral
equivalent of fingers raking down a blackboard. The roads we were travelling on seemed to
become rougher and I spilled hot coffee onto my lap, which, had I not been distracted by the
unfolding of my own abduction, would have probably been quite painful. After about another
half hour of numerous twists and turns the car finally pulled over and I was led, still clutching
my takeaway coffee, into the night.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I had absolutely no idea where we might be, but noticed that it was very quiet. No traffic or
pedestrians. I was then led up some steps, through a door into what seemed like a very large
and musty-smelling space, and up two flights of stairs. Progress up the stairs was extremely
slow and I managed to spill even more of my now cold coffee all over myself. I could hear
“Tript” fumbling his way up each step ahead of me. Eventually our guides became frustrated
with our laborious progress and began to guide each foot to the next step for us. This sped
things up considerably and we soon reached the top of the stairs and were led through a series
of echoing corridors into what sounded like a large cavernous space. Eerie music could be
heard from an adjoining room as we were made to stand facing what seemed to be a bright
light. A deep muffled voice in front of us instructed us to remove our bags.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Blinking to adjust to the light I could make out a desk in front of us with a very bright desk lamp
shining directly into our eyes. A tall heavy-set figure emerged from behind the light and stood,
silhouetted, in front of us. He appeared to be wearing a stocking over his head with bandages
from nose to chin and a small slit cut where his mouth would be. Protruding from this slit was a
lit cigarette, the effect of which was more than a little sinister. In his peculiar deep muffled voice </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">with a slight English accent he greeted us and introduced himself as Charles Hastings, Director
of Operations. At this point I almost dropped my coffee, as after all this time Hastings had
become a kind of legend, and to see him in person was really quite overwhelming.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Hastings apologised for the unorthodox means by which we had been brought to him and told
us that it was a necessary precaution. He then congratulated us on both being selected for
promotion and pointed out that we must now undergo some formalities in order to be officially
inducted into our new roles. The first of these formalities was to be a short message via live
web link from Neurocam’s Director, Ms Bridget Fischer. My heart leapt in my chest, after all
these months of mystery, things were happening so fast. Some of the masked figures opened
a sleek-looking laptop on the desk and Hastings motioned for us to come closer so we could
clearly see the screen. The desk light was then switched off so all we could see was a
Neurocam logo filling the screen. The logo dissolved into a video window in which an Afro-American woman in her mid-forties wearing a dark grey suit and white kabuki mask was
regarding us. Her mask bore the same strange insignia, a bit like a squid, that the others all
had. She appeared to be sitting at a desk in a high-rise office with a spectacular night view of
some extremely large city behind her.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Ms Fischer greeted us in a thick Midwestern American accent and also congratulated us on
being promoted, something she mentioned happened to less than one percent of all entry-level
operatives around the world. She then gave a brief speech about the need for total
commitment to the project as well as complete confidentiality. She said that before we could
officially begin our work as ‘inducted operatives’, we would have to sign an official contract.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The lights flicked back on and Hastings’ team produced hefty contracts and pens for us and we
were told that we had to initial each page and sign on the last page. The contents of the
contracts were steeped in dense corporate jargon almost impossible to decipher. I was so
taken aback by the situation that I found it very difficult to read the very small print on the sixty
or so pages. I dutifully initialled each page and signed on the dotted line, as did “Tript”. All the
while Ms Fischer was watching us from her high-rise office via the Internet. When we had </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">finished and Hastings had collected our contracts, Ms Fischer congratulated us again and told
us that she looked forward to working with us. She signed off and the screen blinked back to
the Neurocam logo.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Hastings then gave us a convoluted speech about the important work that was being
undertaken by Neurocam and how it was only possible with people like us on board. I had no
idea what he was talking about and was more confused than ever. After his speech he
produced two neatly wrapped packages the size of a shoebox from the desk and told us that
we were not to open them until we were in total privacy. He said that the contents of the
packages were of the utmost importance and would show us the way to proceed. At this point
he asked us if we had any questions and, completely intimidated, we both shook our heads
dumbly and muttered “No”. Hastings then bid us “Farewell and Godspeed!” then strode briskly
out of the room.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Our bags were placed back on our heads and we were led out of the building, ushered back
into the cars and driven back to where we had been picked up what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Our Neurocam escorts instructed that we not remove the bags until at least a minute after they
had departed, which I suspected was to make sure we didn’t see their licence plates.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Once they had gone, “Tript” and I removed the bags and stared at each other in amazement.
“Tript” was first to speak and said that that had undoubtedly been one of the most fucked up
nights of his life. I had to agree. I noticed that by now almost all of my coffee was on my
trousers and not in its cup and wondered why I been holding it all this time. We had a long
conversation about what the night’s events had meant and both decided that we were just as
clueless as before and had no idea of what we had just signed up for. We were both clearly
impressed by the idea that Ms Fischer, the leader, was right now sitting in some penthouse
office in LA or somewhere getting on with her Neurocam business. If Neurocam was some kind
of elaborate interactive art project, the scale and art direction of it had just exceeded my wildest
expectations. The game had been taken to yet another level and in spite of having just been
through a weird and scary encounter, I was still willing to be a player.
</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">When I got home that night in the early hours of the morning I unwrapped the parcel Hastings
had given me. It contained a CD with a Neurocam logo on it, a brand new iPhone which was
switched on and ready to go, and a very expensive looking black Japanese kabuki mask with a
red insignia of a squid placed on the forehead between the eyes. Surrounding the stylised
squid design was text, which spelled “Nautonier”. I knew that this was French for ‘navigator’,
but I had no idea what it had to do with Neurocam. As for the mobile phone, I could only
assume that Neurocam would no longer be using email to contact me.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The next day I called in sick at work, as I was still slightly traumatised from the bizarre
developments of the previous evening. With time to reflect on what had happened I began to
realise that Neurocam still wasn’t quite fitting the mould of anything remotely similar to what I
had uncovered in my research. Sure, it had similarities to “Ivan’s Dogs”, “Project George”,
“Strangers and Intimacy”, “Snowdancing”, “Learning to Love You More”, “The Vorticist”,
“Surrender Control”, “I Like Frank”, “Flash Mobs” and the bizarre kidnapping business in New
York—but it just wasn’t the </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">same </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">as any of them. It clearly didn’t label itself as any kind of art
project, couldn’t be played as an ARG and had no transparency whatsoever in terms of who
was running the show and for what reason.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Assuming that Neurocam was something to do with an art project involving a highly organised
team of actors, props and locations, there had to be some kind of precedent out there that
would shed some light of why someone would go to so much trouble and for what reason. I
decided to breach my confidentiality agreement and seek some outside help. I had to discuss
this with an expert in the field, NZ artist Jason Maling aka “The Vorticist”.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Fortunately I was able to see Maling that very afternoon and spent over an hour telling him
about my bizarre adventures with Neurocam and my attempts to figure out what it was all
about. He listened intently and asked me several questions. We discussed Neurocam for
several hours and he seemed to think that it was possibly some kind of art/theatre hybrid
project that was seeking to engage an audience outside of the constraints and labels of the art </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">world. He mentioned another project by the UK performance artists collective Blast Theory
called <i>Kidnap</i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. During 1998 Blast Theory had launched a lottery in which the winners had
the chance to be kidnapped. Ten finalists around England and Wales were chosen at random
and put under surveillance. Two winners were then snatched in broad daylight and taken to a
secret location where they were held for 48 hours. The whole process was broadcast live onto
the Internet. Online visitors were able to control the video camera inside the ‘cell’ and
communicate live with the kidnappers.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Maling suggested that if Blast Theory were kidnapping people in the name of art back in 1998,
it was not so unusual that I had been abducted the previous evening. He pointed out that I had
willingly signed up for my experience as had Blast Theory’s participants. When I mentioned
that I hadn’t known exactly what would happen to me, he said that Blast Theory’s participants
hadn’t either; their abductions had taken place at times and locations that had taken them
completely by surprise. They had however, signed up for a ‘kidnapping’, so they at least knew
that was something that might happen to them.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Maling confessed that he was confused about Neurocam’s total lack of media presence as
they were obviously a large and well-funded organisation that must have had a history of
similar work. He suggested that although the word ‘Neurocam’ turned up nothing on the
Internet, perhaps this was simply the label of the latest project from a group who could be
operating under another name. I thought of the name <i>Nautonier </i>on the insignia of my new
mask and made a mental note to google it. Conversation then turned to the possibilities of art
projects not labeled as art and how the audience would only have a ‘pure’ experience if they
thought that the situation was ‘real’. He seemed genuinely excited by this idea and said that
just because it may not have been done before did not mean that Neurocam weren’t the
pioneers in the field. As we parted he told me to also check out a work by Italian artists Bosetti
and Cuocolo called <i><a href="http://www.iraatheatre.com.au/private_eye.html" target="_blank">Private Eye</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">as well as attending a performance project that was </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">happening in Melbourne at present called <i>Collapse</i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. He wished me luck in my Neurocam
journeys and told me to keep him posted. As I was walking out the door he called out to me
that if Neurocam wasn’t an art project involving elements of theatre, then there was one other
possibility that didn’t bear thinking about—it was real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On the way home Malings’ parting words plagued me. What if it </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">was </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">real? What if Charles
Hastings really was Charles Hastings and Bridget Fischer really was the Chief Executive
Officer of Neurocam International sitting in her high-rise office in the US? The thought blew my
mind. I remembered the CD that they had given me and how, frustratingly, the CD drive on my
computer wasn’t working at the moment. Perhaps the contents of the CD were the key.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At home I looked up the kidnap project and found an interesting article in The Independent
where Blast Theory’s Director Matt Adams was quoted as saying:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">They (the participants) also love the idea of entering the unknown - that's so rare in our
lives. Everyone who's registered will now look at life through slightly different eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This very much reminded me of how Neurocam had created a similar shift in my own
perceptions, especially now that I had absolutely no idea what to expect. In another article in
the Sunday Times, journalist James Armstrong had undergone his own art kidnapping
experience with Blast Theory and reported that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">My view of the performance was clouded by the terror, frustration, boredom and fury
that dominated my 24 hours in captivity. Then again, maybe that was the point of it all.
Certainly, no other performance I have ever seen has brought about such intense
extremes of emotion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This certainly resonated with my experiences the previous evening; I really hadn’t ever felt
such a range of strong emotions as a response to any form of art or entertainment before.
Come to think of it, I probably hadn’t experienced such strong feelings in my entire life
generally.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I had a look at the work <i>Private Eye </i>as Maling had mentioned and could see why he had
suggested it. At the Melbourne International Arts Festival during 2005 Italian artists Renato
Cuocolo and Roberta Bosetti had set up an elaborate performance piece beginning with
Cuocolo hiring a private investigator to secretly tail his wife Bosetti. The work then played out
over three acts, to consecutive audiences of one. In the first act Cuocolo invites the spectator
into the lobby of the Grand Hyatt to view the videos and photographs of Bosetti created by the
private investigator. In the second act the spectator is invited into a hotel room occupied only
by Bosetti, whose seductive performance is calculatingly designed to elicit a secret from the
spectator. Once this confession has been extracted a knock comes at the door and Bosetti
ushers the spectator to a hiding place behind a false wall, where concealed peep holes allow
the spectator to witness the same scene played out with the next member of the audience. On
a promotional website for the project, Cuocolo and Bosetti write that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">It is as if the real and the imaginary were running after each other, as if each were
reflected in each other, around a point of indiscernibility. Indiscernibility implies that we
no longer know what is real or imaginary, not because they are confused, but because
we do not have to know and there is no longer even a place from which to ask.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This was a fantastic example of how the dynamics of theatre, when placed in an art context,
could fabricate a construct of reality for individual participants. I imagined what it must have
been like being directly engaged by Bosetti to share an intimate moment, only to realise that
another person had been secretly watching. There was something I found slightly perverse
about this idea, as participants were deliberately manipulated by trained actors/performers into
tacitly becoming part of an actual scene, which was witnessed by another audience. But wasn’t
I being manipulated in the same way? In this case the audience was also an integral part of the
creation of the work, but like with Neurocam, the situation was not interactive in the sense that
participants could directly control the outcomes of the situation. I felt that this brought to mind
an important distinction to be made between interactive works where the audience shaped the
work, and interactive works where the work shaped the perceptions of the audience. I liked
Cuocolo and Bosetti’s comment about not being able to distinguish between what is real or </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">imaginary because there is no context from which to even make an assessment. I thought that
this could be the ultimate aim of such works—to create a reality in which traditional notions of
fact or fiction are reversed. I guess this could be seen as an alternate reality of sorts,
something I had come across in the game world, but was now seeing in the art world. Certainly
it was an idea that overturned traditional notions of art.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The hotel room scene with Bosetti made me think about the previous evening’s encounter with
Hastings and crew. Had the entire scene been acted out entirely for the benefit of operative
“Tript” and myself, or were there other layers involved? It was quite possible that other
participants could have been present or that the entire thing was being filmed and broadcast on
the Internet or some kind of live-feed TV to another audience. I hoped this was not the case, as
this would have made me feel truly exploited. I also wondered at the extent to which we had
been manipulated into accepting the reality they had presented us with. What if we had
disobeyed instructions and removed our blindfolds or tried to pull off Hastings’ mask? What if
we had asked him directly what Neurocam was all about? Had they known that we would be so
utterly submissive?
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The rest of the week passed uneventfully and my Neurocam phone did not ring. It was
incredibly surreal to have a brand new iPhone that was fully paid up by parties unknown for
reasons that were entirely unclear. I had looked in the phone’s directory and it contained no
contacts and had not made any calls. I carried it with me at all times along with my usual phone
in the hope that something would happen.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That weekend I attended the performance event <i>Collapse</i> that Maling had told me about. An
artist’s collective called Red Cabbage who consisted of several artists, performers, actors and
musicians had created <i>Collapse</i>. As instructed I made my way to a small jetty underneath the
Westgate Bridge where 10 or so other punters were milling about. We were met by a large
pleasure boat, invited on board and given glasses of champagne by young men and women
wearing white plastic overalls. The boat took us out to sea where the skipper killed the engine
and let us drift for some time. A strange noise like a foghorn issued from the bowels of the craft </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">while we were drifting. The engine started and we changed direction and headed for what
looked like an abandoned industrial area along from the Williamstown Marina. As we put in I
noticed a number of people dressed in filthy rags who looked like concentration camp victims
toiling away next to the wharf lugging large sacks full of something out of the ocean and up the
beach. Over the next hour we were subtly led by more of these concentration camp-like
people, all wearing different colored rags, through a series of massive warehouses and old
factories which were all inhabited by people going about their business and seemingly
oblivious to us guests. The inhabitants of this post-apocalyptic state seemed to have their own
complex culture and hierarchy, which was discernable through their behavior with some of
them ordering others about and pushing and shoving them, while others would command
respect in a more detached way. The scene was impressively set up in terms of art direction
with lighting, props and music all integrating seamlessly with what looked like a long since
abandoned factory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On the way home from the performance I thought about how similar to a play it had been. The
only real difference was that the audience moved through the space from scene to scene
which all unfolded in real time. At one point I had attempted to stray from the rest of the
audience members and explore another part of the ‘set’ and been briskly grabbed by the arm
by one of the ‘guides’ and shoved back to where I should have been. I thought that Red
Cabbage had been very successful in constructing a seamless reality in which the audience
were able to experience being ‘cultural tourists’ in a situation where the rules, rituals and
behavior was altogether foreign. I did find myself disappointed by the lack of interaction
however—I had wanted something to happen, something that would have impacted more
actively on the audience. While it was interesting to play the voyeur for a while, I felt that Red
Cabbage could have upped the stakes and made us a more integral part of the reality we were
(passively) witnessing. Even something as simple as being enlisted to help lug heavy sacks out
of the ocean would have been interesting. As I was now discovering, art no longer had to be a
passive proposition; lattes could be spilled and people could get their feet wet. As far as I could
tell these kinds of experiences could have two parts to them—art direction/choreography and
acting/direct interaction with the audience. Traditional theatre used mostly a passive </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">combination of art direction, choreography and acting, whereas twentieth century Avant-Garde
Theater sought to create a more active relationship with the audience, but still within the
confines of the theatre environment. Newly emerging art projects were adding the additional
element of actors/performers directly engaging with an audience during events or situations,
which were clearly not intended as theatre. Neurocam was going one step further and doing all
of this without warning the audience in any way what they were getting themselves into, how
long it would last, or how pervasive it would be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That night I pulled apart my computer and installed the new CD drive I had purchased. I felt a
rush of excitement as I inserted the glossy disc Neurocam had given me. It was an auto-run
application that filled my entire screen. I watched the slick presentation with utter amazement.
Neurocam wanted me to assist them processing applications from people wanting to join the
organisation and recruit those who were deemed suitable. They also wanted me to set what
they called ‘entry-level’ assignments for these people. The assignments were the exact same
ones that I had completed over the last year. It quickly dawned on me that most of my
Neurocam experience so far may well have been dictated by some other operative somewhere
who had received this very same promotion a year ago. While I liked the sense of
empowerment that went with helping Neurocam perpetuate their project by setting up
experiences for other people, I was disappointed that they had cleverly set up the situation so I
was still no closer to finding out who they were and what they were doing. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-40073597600784486502014-07-06T19:39:00.000-07:002014-07-06T19:50:34.081-07:0005 Career Advancement Opportunity<div class="page" title="Page 121">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After the Bolte Bridge assignment I went about my banal day-to-day activities in a kind of
trance. I felt as if I was living parallel lives—one as a boring call centre worker attempting to sell
vacuum cleaners over the phone, and the other as a secret agent for a nefarious organisation of
unknown origins. It was somehow comforting to know that there were other people in Melbourne
probably leading a similar kind of existence. I thought about some of the people I had met on
the assignment and recalled that the ones who had talked about what they did for a living had
ordinary, unremarkable jobs like myself.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I had struck up friendships with a handful of the operatives I had met via email and although
they were still largely reluctant to discuss Neurocam, I sensed that this might change if I
persisted. Occasionally we would joke about our ‘secret lives’ and referred to ‘that which we can
not speak about’. I had never really had ‘online friends’ before, but this seemed like a natural
way to engage with people I had met through such peculiar circumstances. It turned out that we
all had a lot in common and shared very similar interests and I wondered if this was what had
drawn us all to Neurocam in the first place. I tried to isolate a particular quality that my new
friends shared, but could only narrow it down to a similar interest in online research into
anything new and unusual going on in the world. At a stretch it could be said that we were all
people who engaged with the world of ideas in a more intellectual way than your average
person. Or were we simply spending too much time online and not engaging in enough real-world social interaction? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Strangely, it occurred to me that all of us would rather spend our
evenings online than watching TV, which I guess was something else differentiating us from the
general public. It occurred to me that the people who had the most information on the
demographics of a Neurocam Operative were probably those behind the curtain.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought more about the idea of Neurocam possibly being some kind of experimental
performance art project and did some research to find out what was going on within this genre
in the art world these days. I started off by looking at the definition of performance art to see if it
was the right fit. In an attempt to define this rather elusive genre, arts writer Kyle Chayka writes </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">that:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">If we were to assign performance art a single defining characteristic, it would probably
be the fact that a piece of performance art must be centered on an action carried out or
orchestrated by an artist, a time-based rather than permanent artistic gesture that has a
beginning and an end. Documentation of the performance might live on forever, from
photos and artifacts to full video documentation, but the performance itself is
ephemeral. If you were lucky enough to be in the audience, then what you witnessed
was the true work of performance art.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So was Neurocam an ephemeral set of actions carried out by an artist? It was possible, but
after further reading it seemed that performance art itself was bound by certain constraints such
as necessitating the presence of an actual ‘performer’ as well as the elements of space, time
and the relationship of the performer to the audience. In this sense the term performance art
appeared to adequately describe art activities such as the curious ‘tours’ run by <i>Ivan’s Dogs</i>,
but I wasn’t so sure about events where the artists were neither present, nor even
acknowledged. After extensive digging, I could not find any examples of performances where
the artists were not present during the actual events.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Another definition I had come across that seemed more apt was ‘happening’, where “a
performance, event or situation could be considered art”</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">. Apparently happenings can “take
place anywhere, are often multi-disciplinary, usually lack a narrative and frequently seek to
involve the audience in some way.”</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Happenings were also known to leave considerable room
for improvisation. This was more like it.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So was Neurocam an art happening? Upon further research I disappointingly discovered that
the term happening was rather antiquated within the context of contemporary art practice, and
mainly referred to a bunch of artists in the 60s getting together and painting while others played
music or old records and danced. I imagined that there was probably a fair amount of LSD
involved as well</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">...
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Another interesting term I came across was ‘conceptual art’, which American artist Sol LeWitt
defines with the following statement:
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an
artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are
made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine
that makes the art.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">LeWitt is essentially describing a type of art practice where the concepts or ideas informing the
work seem to take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. I couldn’t begin
to imagine what concepts or ideas the creators of Neurocam might be grappling with if they
were trying to create a work of conceptual art. Were they making some kind of statement about
how far people were willing to go to belong to something? Were they dealing with anti-
establishment themes? As far as traditional aesthetic and material concerns went, the attention
to detail I had experienced with Neurocam seemed every bit as meticulous as a quality theatre
production, although arguably anything but traditional. It was very strange to think of Neurocam
as a ‘work’, especially a work having been created by an artist or a group of artists. This made
me think of </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">what </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">would make Neurocam art and brought to mind a quote I had come across by
Tony Godfrey, author of "Conceptual Art," who asserts that “conceptual art questions the nature
of what is understood as art.”</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">It seemed logical to me that Neurocam might well be
questioning the nature of </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">what </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">art is, but I still wasn’t sure if it </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">was </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">art. I had to find some more
examples like <i>Ivan’s Dogs</i>.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">A few days later I was invited to a dinner party and reluctantly attended in spite of wanting to
spend the evening at home on my computer. I thought that it was probably good to get out and
interact with people after spending so much time alone on the Internet and obsessing over
Neurocam. At the dinner party I met an artist from New Zealand who had recently moved to
Australia. We had an interesting discussion about her practice—which mainly involved large-
scale wall drawings—and what was going on in the NZ art scene. My ears pricked up when she </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">mentioned a very bizarre art event she had attended a few years ago that had been staged by a
friend of hers who was also an artist. I prodded her for more details and she happily told me the
full story over several glasses of wine.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The work was called <i><a href="http://www.jasonmaling.com/project-george/index.php" target="_blank">Project George</a></i> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">and was staged in Christchurch, NZ during 1998 by
artist Jason Maling. Maling attempted to engage an audience in constructing a narrative by
focusing on events that had already transpired over several months. In his opening speech at a
gallery set up as a detective’s office, Maling informed his audience that they all knew why they
were there, and were all implicated in the strange events which had been happening over the
last few months. Delivering his lines much like a detective on a case, he proceeded to present
fragments of audiovisual material, which were supposedly part of the ‘investigation’. Over the
next few weeks he used his impromptu office to interrogate members of the audience who came
to see the show. People began to engage with his narrative and brought him several objects (as
evidence) that were supposedly part of the ‘investigation’. In an advertised closing event, people
turned up to the gallery to find it completely vandalised and Maling nowhere to be seen.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Now I was getting somewhere. Maling’s <i>Project George</i> was very similar conceptually to the <i>Ivan’s Dogs</i> project. Maling had essentially been creating a fabricated narrative by asking the
general public to participate in that narrative as if it were a real-life situation. He was not labeling
or contextualising the project as art or portraying himself as an artist or the sole creator of the
work. His role was to facilitate a series of events that set up the possibility for engagement,
much like some of the pervasive games I had been looking at.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After looking at the documentation of the work on Maling’s website, it occurred to me that an
interesting aspect of the work was that he had not been in any way dishonest with his audience.
His investigation into what he considered a series of ‘strange occurrences’ was based entirely
on things he had found in reality and attempted to connect together in unusual ways. He had
showed a slide taken in Italy of a burned out car with some graffiti on it and linked the text to
something completely unrelated in London, which was then connected to something in Australia </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">and so on. So the audience really was implicated in that his meta-narrative canvas was that of
the world around us in which anything could potentially relate to everything if we looked at it in a
particular way. I thought this idea was pure genius.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So the question was, what were the similarities and differences between <i>Project George</i> and
Neurocam? An obvious difference was that Maling had put himself forward as a public front for
his project, whereas I had yet to meet any of Neurocam Management in real-life. Neurocam
were infinitely more secretive about their activities whereas Maling had been up-front about
everything in spite of the apparent strangeness inherent in what he was doing. His project was
also mysterious, but in a more humorous, absurdist way. Another point of difference between
the two projects was Maling’s use of a known gallery space as his head quarters. The people
who were invited to the event were no doubt selected from the gallery mailing list and probably
went along expecting a performance art event or an installation. Which is ultimately what they
got, although it was admittedly stretching the boundaries of what is considered performance art
and installation. Neurocam was engaging a far broader audience, selected via the great leveling
device of an advertising hoarding rather than anything so highbrow as a gallery mailing list.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Both projects were however creating a spontaneous narrative, which engaged the public in a
series of improvised scenarios. <i>Project George</i> involved people in an investigation looking into
strange goings on, and Neurocam created enough intrigue to motivate people to initiate their
own investigations into what Neurocam actually was. Another striking similarity was that both
works (assuming that Neurocam was an artwork) required a tacit agreement from the audience
to suspend rational disbelief and engage with the narrative framework </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">as if </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">it were real. This
was something I had come across frequently when looking at pervasive games, but seemed to
be an entirely new concept when considering the ways in which audiences responded to
artworks. With <i>Ivan’s Dogs </i>the audience was forced to accept the reality in which they were
placed, but participation in <i>Project George</i> and Neurocam required accepting a construct,
which was more akin to the way we witness some types of film or theater.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On Maling’s website he was advertising a new project where he wanted people to make an </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">appointment to see <i><a href="http://www.jasonmaling.com/vorticist/index.php" target="_blank">The Vorticist</a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. He gave no clues as to who or what ‘The Vorticist’ was, or
what this new project was about. I guessed that people would probably engage with his new
work on the strength of his reputation alone. I decided to make an appointment and find out
what it was all about. Was it possible that Neurocam was just one of a number of strange new
art activities going on all around us?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Later that week I got home from another soul destroying day of work to find the details of my
next assignment.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">NEUROCAM ASSIGNMENT – NTC – 5781/01 – CAREER ADVANCEMENT SUITABILITY
ASSESSMENT</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) AIM</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">A face-to-face assessment of an operative’s suitability for career advancement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">(B) CONTEXT</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The 1st phase of Neurocam International’s 2005 operations is drawing to a close.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Due to a disparity between the number of active field operatives and the number of operatives
required for phase two, Neurocam has decided to downsize its operational work force. To this
end it has been determined that a face-to-face assessment of each operative is required.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Based upon the outcomes of this assessment a determination will be made as to whether each
operative should; be recommended for career advancement, be retained in Neurocam’s
services at their current status, or dismissed from the organisation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">'Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterise all worthwhile
art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity.' -
Vladimir Nabokov, 'Poems and Problems', 1969</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) EXECUTION</span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Below are the procedural details for this assignment. Any deviation from the operational </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">protocol described may result in a requirement of disciplinary action against the operative.</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Between 8–10pm on Tuesday or Wednesday (date withheld for security reasons) you must
arrive at (address withheld for security reasons). Before entering the venue, you must ensure
that you are wearing both your white facemask and Neurocam Identifier.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Upon entering the building, purchase a drink and proceed upstairs where you will be met by
a number of other operatives, all of whom will be similarly masked. Please be aware, two of
these operatives will be members of Neurocam’s Management Team.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Around the venue you will notice a number of chessboards. As soon as a chessboard is
free, you must approach another operative, state your Neurocam Operative name and
challenge them to a game of chess.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Beyond the exchange of your Neurocam name, you are strictly forbidden from discussing
Neurocam in any way throughout your match.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Once the game has been won or lost, you are to note the name of your competitor, the
outcome of the match and the details of any conversation engaged in during the match.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. You must then repeat steps 3 through 5 until you have either played every operative in the
room, or the allotted time for this assessment is complete (see step 7).</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. At 10.00pm exactly you must cease the match you are engaged in and make a note of which
player is in an advantageous position.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Within the venue there is a painting, which is the work of a famous individual who has not
obtained their fame for their artistic endeavors. Determine which painting and the identity of the
artist before vacating the venue in an expedient manner.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Submit a report of your assignment (including a record of your winnings and losses, a brief
transcript of all conversations and the identity of the famous painter) to the Operations Division
(operations@neurocam.com) prior to close of business on Friday (date withheld for security
reasons).</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOTE: You will be informed of the results of your assessment within two weeks of the
submission of your report.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Operatives are strictly forbidden from revealing any details pertaining to this assignment. Any </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">operative found doing so will suffer immediate expulsion from Neurocam.</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Charles Hastings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">Head, Operations Division
Neurocam International
operations@neurocam.com</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">If there was one thing I had truly come to love about Neurocam, it was their absolute lack of
predictability. I felt enormous admiration for the person or people who had conjured up this
incredibly bizarre and exciting new assignment. Now that I was looking at the possibility of
Neurocam being some kind of artistic experiment or new type of art practice, I could see the
creative possibilities inherent within these strange goings on. I was still unsure how I felt about
being manipulated into participating in the first place, but I considered that this process might
have been an integral part of the experience.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Aside from the fact that I would once again meet face to face with fellow operatives, this
assignment was to be the first opportunity to meet with actual Neurocam Management. I
wondered what they would be like and whether we would be able to talk to them about
Neurocam. Their presence would probably make us slightly paranoid, as they would
undoubtedly be tasked with monitoring our conduct. Perhaps attempting to strike up
conversations about the cam would not be a wise move. The possibilities presented quite a
quandary.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The premise of the assignment was ominous–Neurocam were going to cull some operatives
and promote others. I wanted to be promoted more than anything as this would no doubt bring a
whole new level to the experience, but I was frustrated that Neurocam hadn’t told us exactly
what they were looking for in terms of grounds for promotion. I thought it might be wrong to
assume that the operatives who won the most games of chess would be first to be promoted </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">and hoped that this was the case as my chess playing skills were nothing special. I found it
somewhat irritating that we had been expressly instructed not to talk </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic;">about </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam while
playing matches </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic;">for </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">There was a distinct element of tension in this latest development as some of us would be cut
off from an ongoing activity that had become an important part of our lives, while others would
(rather exclusively) be taken to new heights. I thought about the idea of my Neurocam
involvement reaching its conclusion and the idea was not an appealing one. Whatever kind of
art or game experience this was I did not want it to end just yet. I guess it was like watching a
really good movie or reading an engrossing novel. But the difference was that this was
happening in real time and we would not be able to rewind or flick back to the beginning.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In the days before the career advancement suitability assessment I conversed with my
Neurocam friends often via email and between us we found a local supplier of cheap white
Japanese kabuki masks. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1GtBY6ik8fUpIJZgnlW0ROb9kN0BJHkg6kdqAme3c1Ek_IBDH4gkChilAO38DPsR9kkApE9QIQCXuS3PmHF-RwpfH3oZ3KnkYoQ9FkSP6BAsVM8Rcza_8qPr49vntSYBR-HKYh0pjomO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-07+at+11.43.30+am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1GtBY6ik8fUpIJZgnlW0ROb9kN0BJHkg6kdqAme3c1Ek_IBDH4gkChilAO38DPsR9kkApE9QIQCXuS3PmHF-RwpfH3oZ3KnkYoQ9FkSP6BAsVM8Rcza_8qPr49vntSYBR-HKYh0pjomO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-07+at+11.43.30+am.png" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">During my lunch break one day I made a visit to this costume shop on
Little Bourke Street and found that their supply of kabuki masks was rapidly dwindling. I asked
the girl behind the counter and she said that it was really weird that after selling none of the
masks for months, all of a sudden she had dozens of people wanting them in the last three3
days. When I got home that day I made the necessary adjustments to the mask as per
Hastings’ instructions in the last assignment—cutting off the chin section at the line of the upper
lip. I thought it was clever how he had withheld this detail from the recent assignment brief,
making sure that only those who had heard his recording at Bolte Bridge would know what to
do. Trying on the mask made me feel like some strange member of a demented cult sect. I
could only imagine what a room full of us would look like to the general public </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">... </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">were we about
to become a living, breathing part of someone’s conceptual artwork?
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">A couple of days later I was looking at websites from some of Melbourne’s art galleries and
noticed that a gallery called West Space was advertising a ‘live art event’ which was limited to
10 participants per night. There was a brief write-up about the event, called <i><a href="http://westspace.org.au/event/strangers-and-intimacy/" target="_blank">Strangers and </a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a href="http://westspace.org.au/event/strangers-and-intimacy/" target="_blank">Intimacy</a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, which explained how it was a collaboration between artists, performers and actors
from Australia and the UK. The write-up didn’t really say what the event would involve beyond
touting it as ‘an unforgettable evening not to be missed’. Never having been to a ‘live art event’
before I decided to sign up. I received a message back almost immediately saying that they
could fit me in the following evening at seven, and to arrive at the address and wait outside. In
preparation I brushed up on my art lingo and discovered an interesting definition of live art by
UK artist Joshua Sofaer:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Live Art is when an artist chooses to make work directly in front of the audience in
space and time. So instead of making an object, or an environment (a painting for
example) and leaving it for the audience to encounter in their own time, Live Art comes
into being at the actual moment of encounter between artist and spectator. Or at least
even if they are not physically present, the artist sets up a situation in which the
audience experience the work in a particular space and time, and the notion of
‘presence’ is key to the concerns of the work.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I wasn’t entirely sure how live art differed from performance art, but supposed it was to do with
the way live art focussed more on the ‘encounters’ between artist and audience, implying a
more direct kind of interaction. I was intrigued by Sofaer’s mention of works where the artists
would not be physically present, but would set up situations to be experienced by the audience.
Wasn’t this exactly what had been happening with Neurocam? I came across another ambitious
description of what live art attempts to offer the audience:
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Live Art offers immersive experiences, often disrupting distinctions between spectator
and participant. Live Art asks us what it means to be here, now. In the simultaneity and
interactivity of a media saturated society, Live Art is about immediacy and reality:
creating spaces to explore the experience of things, the ambiguities of meaning and the
responsibilities of our individual agency.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">If the distinctions between spectator and participant were being reinvented in the context of
‘creating spaces to explore the experience of things’, I wondered exactly what kind of art
experience I was in for. Needless to say I was interested to see how <i>Strangers and Intimacy</i> related to some of the art I had heard about recently.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The following evening I arrived at the (locked) front door of West Space Gallery to see a small
crowd of eight or nine people milling about. It seemed that some of them knew each other, but
most had come alone. We chatted about the strangeness of being made to wait outside a
gallery without knowing what was in store for us.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At some time after 7pm a window opened above us on the second floor and an attractive young
woman leaned out and dropped a feather, which slowly drifted down towards us. A middle-aged
woman caught the feather and while she was examining it the doors opened and another
attractive young woman came out and led her back in the door and up the stairs, indicating that
the rest of us were to remain outside. Another feather was dropped from above and the process
repeated until all of us were eventually led up the stairs, through a series of completely empty
rooms (which I assumed was the gallery space), and into a small cramped room at the back of
the space.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Once we were all crammed inside the very small room the door was shut and locked and we
were left there for several minutes. During this time we all sat down on the floor and made
ourselves as comfortable as possible within the cramped confines. Some time later the lights
were switched off and we were thrown into complete darkness, which was unsettling to say the
least. If that was not enough to make us feel uncomfortable, extremely loud sounds began to
issue from a small vent on the floor. The sounds were incredibly strange; somehow primordial
and chaotic without any connection to anything obviously tangible. At best they could be
described as demented wailing. The overall effect was extremely disarming, especially as it
continued for at least 15 minutes. Being tightly packed into a room full of complete strangers
didn’t help matters, as I felt more than a little bit claustrophobic.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After what seemed like an eternity the sounds stopped and the lights came on. The door
opened and another woman we had not seen before entered wearing some kind of maid’s outfit
carrying a birthday cake with several candles alight. She was singing happy birthday as she
reached out and grabbed the hand of one of the audience members and led him out of the
space. As she departed the room loud sounds issued from the adjacent room—people cheered </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">and whistles were blown as if a party was in full swing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">We were then led out by one by one by the cake-wielding woman. I took her hand and was
taken to another room where a party was indeed in full swing. The room was now inhabited by
twenty or so people all talking, laughing and drinking as if they were right at home in a familiar
environment. As I was led through the crowd I was approached by a woman who seemed to
know me, who introduced me by name to some of the people at the party, including the hosts.
What followed was so utterly bizarre that I had absolutely no frame of reference or way of
behaving that empowered me in any way. I was completely at the mercy of a bunch of
professionals who knew exactly what they were doing. It was like being inside a play but not
having any lines. Over the next two hours I witnessed drunken arguments, animated
conversations about all manner of subjects and a tearful confession from a naked girl in the
bathroom who told me that her boyfriend had just left her because she had cheated on him. I
was also made to dance with a complete stranger and look her in the eye while telling her that I
loved her.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">When I got home that night I felt like I had experienced some kind of epiphany regarding
contemporary art. Essentially I had just been to a gallery and seen some art, but to me the
event had been infinitely more potent than anything I had ever encountered in a gallery situation
before. I had just had </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">an experience</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">, and it had engaged me on several levels. I had been taken
completely out of my comfort zone and had experienced a range of emotions, thoughts and
ideas. The key to this amazing event had been the fact that its creators had managed to
construct an entire reality through a series of brilliant interconnecting performances, which were
seamlessly improvised to engage the participants every step of the way.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><i>Strangers and Intimacy</i> was like a combination of <i>Ivan’s Dogs</i> and Maling’s <i>Project George</i>.
It created a situation where the audience were in some ways forced to accept the reality around
them, but the script could be adapted at any point to accommodate unpredictable deviations. An
interesting aspect to this approach was that each participant had probably gone home with a
different story to tell about the evening’s events; only people who had needed to use the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">bathroom would have encountered the naked crying woman, and while I was in there with her I
probably missed all kinds of other things going on in other rooms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">My West Space experience had left me hyped for my upcoming Neurocam assignment. I had
just experienced first hand what was now possible in the context of contemporary art, and was
all but convinced that Neurocam was playing a similar game. They weren’t doing it in an art
gallery, but perhaps this did not matter. If I could be coerced into challenging situations within
the seemingly ‘safe’ confines of an art gallery, then why couldn’t this happen anywhere? In both
cases I still had the option of opting out of proceedings at any time, but there was also a similar
kind of manipulation at play which kept me motivated. I wasn’t exactly being duped by either
party, but they were certainly presenting their information in a somewhat selective way. <i>Strangers and Intimacy</i> had not at any point announced that they were artists or that the
scenario was an artwork. I imagined that their performance would have worked equally well in
another context completely removed from the art world if they had been able to somehow get an
audience together. So was this the only real difference between Neurocam and <i>Strangers and
Intimacy</i>—the way in which they gathered an audience and the types of venues they used?
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I continued to investigate the emergence of a new type of art practice that seemed to alter the
fabric of an audience’s reality and attempted to trace these ideas back through recent art
history. While performance art and happenings dated back to the sixties, live art was a term that
was first used in the UK during the mid-eighties to describe new and existing works.
Interestingly, the list of officially recognised ‘live artists’, such as Marina Abramovic, Vito
Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht, Stuart Brisley, Chris Burden, Gilbert
and George, Tehching Hsieh, Paul McCarthy, Hermann Nitsch, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik and
Wolf Vostell dated back several years before the term was actually created to encompass a
diverse range of performances and happenings. Unfortunately this had the effect of diluting the
clarity of what I had considered to be catchy new terminology describing a unique genre.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In trying to find examples of live art not concerned with more traditional performance practices, I </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">came across an interesting work called <a href="http://kaleidoscope-press.com/press/temp-arch-c/" target="_blank"><i>Snowdancing</i> </a></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">created by French artist Phillipe
Parreno in 1995. Parreno had set up a party and everything that transpired during the 90-minute
event became the artwork—clusters, conversations, awkwardness, and all. Some of the
partygoers were acting under Parreno’s instructions and played certain key roles, creating a
blurring of the line between reality and fiction as most participants were reacting spontaneously
to the situation as it played out around them. This sounded very similar to <i>Strangers and
Intimacy</i> and I wondered if it had been an influence. If this type of work had occurred over 10
years ago, I wondered if there was a solid tradition of this kind of live art practice. If so, I would
have thought that I would have heard about it. I guess it was possible that it was simply not that
popular and didn’t have much of a following. The other possibility was that it was operating
more on an underground level, focusing entirely on the experiences themselves rather than
publicity or documentation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On the day of the assignment I was so excited that I was hopeless at work. Time dragged
unbearably and I found myself zoning out often. My supervisor, who had been monitoring some
of my calls, called me into her office and asked me if everything was OK. I wanted to tell her
that I couldn’t concentrate because I had an appointment with some masked strangers to
determine my fate within a strange organisation called Neurocam, but thought better of it. It
would have been hugely ironic if I been sacked from my real life job and promoted with
Neurocam. When work was finally over I had an hour to kill before my appointment with the cam
and found myself distractedly wandering the streets with the cut-down white kabuki mask in my
bag. I contemplated arriving at the location early, but didn’t want to risk anything that might
compromise my promotional possibilities.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The venue was a bar on Victoria Street in North Melbourne called Prudence. As I approached I
saw several people arrive wearing white masks and quickly put mine on. Thankfully I had
widened the ill-placed eyeholes and could see through the mask quite well. A casually dressed
man in his early-thirties wearing a similar (but more expensive) mask to mine with a curious
logo on the forehead was standing by the door. He greeted me and asked for my identification. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">thought this was odd and pulled out my wallet, thinking that he wanted to see my driver’s
license. “Your Neurocam ID” he said. I felt foolish, I had been so nervous that I had forgotten to
put on my Neurocam Identity badge. I fished it out of my pocket and he ushered me through the
door. So this was a bona fide member of Neurocam Management. He seemed very
unapproachable so I didn’t attempt to strike up a conversation. I wondered if I would recognise
him in a crowd without his mask on and laughed to myself about Neurocam sending members
of management on an assignment where we all happened to be conveniently wearing masks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I brought myself a beer at the bar and headed upstairs. The bartender hadn’t seemed at all
phased about my mask and there were no unmasked customers around so I assumed that
Neurocam had hired the entire venue for the evening. At the top of the stairs was a series of
large interconnecting rooms, each with several tables and chessboards set up. Most of the
tables were occupied with masked figures hunched low over their boards. I was met by a tall
balding man in his late-thirties wearing a mask with the same strange logo, who ushered me
impatiently to a seating area where a couple of other masked operatives were gathered. It was
impossible to tell if any of the people from the Bolte Bridge assignment were present as every
person in the room was wearing an almost identical mask.
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I made polite conversation with the other operatives in the ‘waiting room’ and made a joke about
the tall Neurocam guy who was standing at the top of the stairs. “Friendly fellow isn’t he?” I said.
The others appeared not to share my joke and looked sheepishly about. The tall guy came over
and told us that there was a table free. I took this opportunity to challenge the operative beside
me to a game of chess. His operative name was “Pale Figure”, not someone who had been
present at Bolte Bridge. I found it odd that he also had a cut-down mask like my own and
wondered if Hastings had run another Bolte Bridge-style assignment with another batch of
operatives, or if he had simply sent a different set of instructions. As we made our way to a table
I noticed that there were about 50 people present, almost twice the number who had attended
Bolte.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">While I was engaged in a game of chess with operative “Pale Figure” I looked around the room </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">and was struck with the absolute strangeness of the situation. The décor was that of an old
English mansion and several antique lamps cast subdued reddish light about the space. The
light was caught on the smooth white faces of the masked figures all hunched low over their
chessboards, deep in concentration. The little conversation about the room was a low murmur
over a series of what sounded like old movie soundtracks being played on an ancient stereo
system. In terms of art direction, the setup reminded me of a famous scene in Stanley Kubrick’s
1999 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120663/" target="_blank"><i>Eyes Wide Shut</i> </a></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 6pt; vertical-align: 5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">in which Tom Cruise’s character happens on a mysterious
gathering of masked men who are part of a secret organisation set up as a kind of Masonic
Brotherhood dedicated to extravagant and illicit pleasures. Cruise’s character is exposed as he
does not follow the correct protocols of one of their ‘meetings’.</span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">As far as I could tell, the only Neurocam Management Personnel present were the guy on the
door and the guy at the top of the stairs.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The evening wore on and I lost some games and won some games. At one point the tall
Neurocam guy took a phone call which my opponent and I both overheard, explaining that he
was "</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">... </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">at this Neurocam thing ... oh it's quite the story, mate </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">... </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">it goes back, like, a year </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">...
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Graham got me into it </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">...</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">" As he was obviously distracted I looked at the girl opposite me,
operative Constance, and asked her, “Do you really think he’s Management?” Constance gave
me a ‘cut’ signal by running her hand in front of her neck in a chopping motion and shook her
head. I gathered that she didn’t want to risk talking about Neurocam.
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Shortly before 10pm I remembered the other part to the assignment—to identify the painting. I
wandered through the rooms and looked at the four or five paintings on the walls. A few other
operatives were looking at the paintings as well and seemed to be gathered around one in
particular, a painting of the seven dwarves by JW Gacy. I overheard a discussion about JW
being John Wayne as in John Wayne Gacy the infamous serial killer. I wrote this down and left
the building. I had won one game of chess with operative “Pale Figure” and lost two games to
operatives “Constance” and “Midnight”. I sincerely hoped that my Neurocam involvement would </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">not be compromised by my lousy chess performance. It struck me that Neurocam could have
had several management members present, all participating in chess games to monitor
operatives’ conduct. But why chess? Was this an analogy for the complex game Neurocam was
playing with us?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">All in all it had been a very strange evening as I had interacted with several people without
having what I would call a real conversation. The atmosphere of the event had been one of
mystery, intrigue and tension—elements obviously carefully controlled by Neurocam. Having
actual Neurocam personnel present had been disappointing for me, as I couldn’t help thinking
that they seemed to be very much like operatives who might have been higher up the food
chain and merely carrying out different assignments. It occurred to me that if some of us were
promoted we might find ourselves in a similar position and be given assignments where we
facilitated events for other operatives. If this were the case, I wondered who the ‘real’
management were and how many promotions it would take to actually meet them. I found it
vaguely distasteful that this was set up as a kind of hierarchy where it implied a sense of status
to be rubbing shoulders with Neurocam’s upper management. I thought about what I would do if
given such a position of power. Would it be satisfying to have this higher status and subsequent
power and control over others? Would this be another test?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I considered the possibility of the evening’s events being part of a live art project and could
definitely see similarities to the work of <i>Ivan’s Dogs</i>, <i>Strangers and Intimacy</i>, <i>Project
George</i> and <i>Snowdancing</i>. The main difference was that Neurocam was still at this point
operating in a more mysterious and removed way; we had yet to have any real contact with the
puppet masters or understand fully what their agenda was. Also, the narrative construct was
more elaborate and seemed to span over a far longer time frame than the one-off performances
of similar works. I decided to dig deeper while I waited impatiently for the outcomes of the
career advancement assessment.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">While trawling the net I came across a link to a very interesting interactive performance project
staged in Adelaide during 2004 by UK artists collective Blast Theory. The project, entitled <i><a href="http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/i-like-frank/" target="_blank">I like </a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><i><a href="http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/i-like-frank/" target="_blank">Frank</a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, used 3G mobile phones and a central website to engage an audience in tracking down
a man named Frank. The project explored the intersection of real and virtual spaces in much
the same way as alternate reality games. Players interfacing with a virtual representation of the
city were able to figure out clues and text them to people in the streets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><i>I like Frank</i> reminded me of the Bolte Bridge assignment where we had worked as a team to
solve a narrative based puzzle in much the same way as players in an ARG context. It was
interesting that Blast Theory considered themselves to be a ‘performance art collective’ when
this project was almost identical to some ARGs. After reading all about the project on their
website, I couldn’t help thinking that the project was unsuccessful in terms of testing the
boundaries of this kind of hybrid space within an art context. The artists relied too heavily on
gaming strategies and pre-determined modes of engagement, which led to a relatively
predicable and overly safe experience for participants. There was also the question of
motivation. If Neurocam had presented itself as a kind of heavily monitored hybrid art project
which one could sign up to participate in, I don’t think I would have bothered. Neurocam
seemed to have an edge in that it was not contextualised in any obvious way, but was it art or
some kind of subversive experiment that had nothing to do with performance art or live art
practice? Strangely, this uncertainty was what made it so appealing.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Another work with similarities to Neurocam that I uncovered was artist and filmmaker Miranda
July’s web based work <i><a href="http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/" target="_blank">Learning to Love You More</a></i></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 8px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">that was launched in 2002. July engaged
an audience by posting ‘assignments’ on her website which were completed by participants who
documented the results and uploaded them on the site. The assignment idea was strikingly
similar to Neurocam and participation relied on a sense of community created by the
participants themselves. I had also never heard of any other artwork (other than perhaps
Neurocam) that required an audience to actually go out and do stuff, which was quite a
commitment in itself. I was really excited about the possibilities inherent within July’s work as I
imagined that in getting her audience to independently participate in doing things offline, they </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">would no doubt get to have ‘experiences’ that might alter their perceptions in some way, much
like with Neurocam. I made a note of some of her assignments for my records:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Interview someone who has experienced war. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Record the sound that is keeping you awake. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Make a portrait of your friend's desires.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Give advice to yourself in the past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Re-enact a scene from a movie that made someone else cry. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Make an exhibition of the art in your parent's house.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Act out someone else's argument.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Ask your family to describe what you do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Make a protest sign and protest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Spend time with a dying person.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Curate an artist's retrospective in a public place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Recreate an object from someone's past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Make a documentary video about a small child.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">July’s work certainly encouraged participants to engage with the project in a creative way and
had attracted over eight-thousand participants over its seven-year lifespan. Although <i>Learning
to Love You More</i> also used the structure of assignments to facilitate audience participation, it
did not have any over-arching theme or narrative like Neurocam or like a game.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At this point the only thing all of the works I had been researching had in common was the
relationship between artist and audience; these situations had been set up to make the focus of
the work the actual participants themselves, not the actions, props or art direction from the
artists/performers. Also, these projects did not seem to be documented. I had searched for
many hours on the Internet and had not been able to find video, photographs or anything more
than brief textual descriptions of the works. As far as I could tell, this represented a radically
different way of looking at art, which was ephemeral and not based around object-based
outcomes or even extensive documentation.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">During the next week I had my appointment to see Jason Maling’s creation <i>The Vorticist</i>,
which turned out to be in a small, sparsely furnished room at the Abbotsford Convent. Maling
himself, who was wearing a very smart looking blue velvet waistcoat and tie, met me at the
gates. He led me through the grand old buildings regaling me with tales of their history as a
nunnery. It seemed that the convent was now being used mainly as artists’ studios. Once inside </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">his room, Maling sat me down next to a small table covered in the same blue velvet as his
waistcoat upon which sat an assortment of strange equipment. We chatted at length about a
range of topics and I had the sense that Maling was always cleverly directing the conversation
into areas in which he had control over the content or stories to tell. We talked a lot about UFOs
and ghosts, which is not something I am usually conversant with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">After a while he opened a box on the table, which contained a set of brass spinning tops of
various sizes. He set up a piece of blue carbon copy paper under a sheet of thin drawing paper
on top of a marble slate and asked me to spin the tops on the paper. Not knowing what to do, I
randomly selected various tops and spun them randomly on the paper. The copy paper left
traces of fine lines underneath the translucent drawing paper, which were visible from above.
When I had returned all of the tops to their box Maling removed the top layer of paper and rolled
it up using a very old looking rod that he said belonged to his great grandfather. He bound it
with some blue velvet and presented it to me, telling me it was mine to keep. Underneath where
the paper had been was a beautiful blue layer of copy paper, which had inscribed the inverse of
the drawing I had made on it. Maling said that this was his copy and that he would makes notes
on our 'appointment’. He showed me a book that contained numerous blue drawings next to
meticulous notes about the conversations he’d had with what he referred to as his ‘subjects’.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On the way home from the strange meeting I reflected on how the experience could be
considered art and what kind of art it was in relation to some of the works I had recently
participated in and read about. I had made a drawing, but I had the feeling that was not the
point of the exercise, or the artwork. I thought more about the strange conversation we’d had
and it dawned on me that perhaps this was the work. If a conversation could be art then I was
sure that Neurocam’s activities could also be art. But I was still uncertain. Even though
Neurocam could plausibly be a work of art, it was still entirely possible that it had nothing to do
with art and was simply an incredibly elaborate marketing campaign for some kind of gaming
company. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-24284790691671354692014-06-24T14:59:00.000-07:002014-06-24T15:30:48.610-07:0004 Bolte Bridge<div class="page" title="Page 105">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Armed with my newly acquired skills in ‘covert surveillance’, I went about my daily routines with
a sense of expectation. Neurocam played on my mind often and I found myself fantasising
endlessly about the possibilities inherent in my last assignment. I felt special, as if I had a secret
that I could not share with my friends and colleagues. Even on the dullest days at work I had
something else to contemplate that made my life seem more interesting. I felt like telling the
constant string of unfortunate victims to whom I was attempting to sell vacuum cleaners that I
had something else more important going on in my life; I was not merely a lowly call centre
salesperson. I was a Neurocam Operative and I had secret business to attend to.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At the end of another dreary day of cold calls and endless abuse from randomly selected
members of the general public, I flopped down behind my laptop with a much-needed beer.
Upon checking my email I experienced the usual rush of excitement when I noticed a fresh
email from Neurocam with “NCI - 7061/01” in the subject header. It had been almost two weeks
since I had last heard from them. As I read on I almost fell off my chair:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">NEUROCAM ASSIGNMENT - NCI - 7061/01 - [COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE INTERCEPT]
Area Search and Object Recovery
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) AIM</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The recovery of an object stolen from Neurocam International.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(B) CONTEXT</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It has been brought to the attention of Neurocam’s Human Resources Security Division that a
disgruntled Neurocam operative has been engaging in corporate espionage. Prior to this
individual being identified, several high security rated documents and other company properties
were removed from Neurocam’s Melbourne offices.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The operative responsible has been dismissed from the organisation, but, despite concerted
efforts to the contrary on Neurocam's behalf to effect his detainment, he remains at large. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Intercepted communiqués have revealed that the operative intends to transfer the materials, to
persons unknown, via the use of a covert ‘dead drop’ location. Although HR Security personnel
have managed to identify the general vicinity where this will occur, the exact location remains
unknown.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam's intelligence reports suggest that the operative will secrete the object at the ‘dead
drop’ at approximately 4pm on (date withheld for security reasons). It is also expected that the
object will be collected by the alternate party at approximately 7pm.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It is critical that the materials are located and recovered without the engagement of the other
parties. Ongoing intelligence operations depend on the insurance of the covert nature of this
operation until at least seven (7) days after it is completed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) EXECUTION</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Below are the procedural details for this assignment. Any deviation from the operational
protocol, outlined below, will result in disciplinary action, and likely dismissal of the operative/s
from Neurocam International. If there are any doubts about this please contact operations
(operations@neurocam.com).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">1. At 4.45pm on the (date withheld for security reasons) you are to arrive at the location
detailed in the map provided.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. Please be aware that you will be met at this location by other Neurocam operatives.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. Without revealing excessive personal information, you will need to operate as a team to
search the area for the materials. You are to begin no earlier than 5pm.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">4. Neurocam's intelligence reports suggest that it is likely that there will be one object at the
location which contains or acts as a key to detecting and/or accessing another secure item, that
likely contains Neurocam's proprietary materials. Once you have located and recovered the
item use whatever means are necessary to *safely* retrieve the materials.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">5. Once the materials are secured you are to vacate the area in an expedient fashion, removing
only Neurocam's materials, and leaving the location as close to the condition it was in when you
arrived.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">6. All operatives are then required to submit a detailed report of their specific involvement in this </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">assignment, and the nature of the events that occur, to the Operations Division
(operations@neurocam.com) by close of business (date withheld for security reasons).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) OPERATIVE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It is known that part of the search area may be under water so sturdy, waterproof footwear will
be required to facilitate a thorough search of the location.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(E) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Operatives are strictly forbidden from revealing any details pertaining to this assignment. Any
operative found doing so will suffer immediate expulsion from Neurocam.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Please note—due to the deployment of multiple operatives it is essential that all operatives
display their Neurocam Identifiers throughout their participation in this assignment. This will
enable operatives to verify each others’ affiliation and limit the potential for infiltration by
operatives working against Neurocam International's interests.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(F) TIMELINE</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It is essential that Neurocam Operatives do not arrive before 4.45pm. An early arrival may alert
the rogue operative to our intentions.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In addition, to ensure the safety of all operatives, and the viability of continued counter-
intelligence operations, it is critical that all operatives have vacated the search area by 6.30pm,
prior to the arrival of the alternate parties.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Neurocam International</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This was quite incredible. My mind raced with the exciting opportunities my new assignment
opened up and I felt like an eager school kid who wanted to put his hand up and interrupt the
teacher. Above all, I could see that a narrative was forming. Neurocam had finally imparted
some additional information regarding their status and modus operandi. And, I was going to
meet some other Neurocam operatives! I had always had a sense that I was not alone in this
venture, but now this was to be confirmed.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Detaching myself from the initial giddy excitement this assignment brought on, I thought about
the implications of the task. If Neurocam had indeed been the victim of industrial espionage,
why would they attempt to engage unskilled volunteers like myself to clean up the mess? This
seemed highly unlikely and signified a shift away from the realms of credibility towards
something infinitely more theatrical. And did Neurocam really have ‘Melbourne Offices’? If so,
why couldn’t I simply walk in the front door and speak to Hastings face-to-face? Something was
indeed fishy, but in the context of what I had already undertaken, did not seem any less
appealing. The general terms of engagement seemed to revolve around obeying their
instructions without question, something that most definitely involved a suspension of rational
disbelief. This brought to mind a fantastic quote from Fowles’ novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Magus-John-Fowles/dp/0440351626" target="_blank"><i>The Magus </i></a>in which the
mysterious prankster/puppet master Conchis tells Nicholas that, “I do not ask you to believe. All </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I ask you is to pretend to believe. It will be easier.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So perhaps the parameters of whatever game Neurocam were playing revolved around
participants accepting what they told us </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">as if </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">it were the truth, and acting accordingly. In the
context of games, stories and theatre, this made sense to me. When I had been researching
ARGs a few weeks back, I had come across an interesting article by game designer and
theorist Jane McGonigal, who presented the argument that gamers maximise their interactions
by simulating a belief system where they suspend rational disbelief in order to immerse
themselves within a narrative. She states that:
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The best pervasive games </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">do </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">make you more suspicious, more inquisitive, of your
everyday surroundings. A good immersive game will show you game patterns in non-
game places; these patterns reveal opportunities for interaction and intervention. The
more a player chooses to believe, the more (and more interesting) opportunities are
revealed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">To illustrate this point McGonigal cites the example of a 2002 ARG called the <a href="http://thegogame.com/team_building" target="_blank"><i>Go Game</i></a> where
a team of players were instructed via mobile phone to carry out a complex mission on the
streets of San Francisco and found themselves in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel. Having already
encountered several ‘plants’—actors hired by the game’s designers who had assisted them in
carrying out their mission—they assumed that they would find another plant in the hotel’s lobby.
When approached by a hotel staff member they thought that he was the plant and when he
appeared unwilling to assist them in their task, thought that this was part of his ‘act’.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">During my last assignment, I had experienced a similar kind of hyper-awareness in which I had
found myself questioning the smallest details making up my immediate reality to the point where
I had transposed my own (perhaps rather paranoid) narrative onto the situation. If I was to
consider that Neurocam </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">was </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">a pervasive game, then I had to consider the possibility that I was
equally responsible for fabricating some kind of alternate reality. Whoever I was going to meet
at the group assignment would no doubt be part of the game in some way, whether they were </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">players like myself, plants hired by Neurocam, or the puppet masters themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Whatever type of experience Neurocam was, it was my sole intention at this point to maximise
my immersion into its world. I was going to pretend to believe and treat everything they threw at
me as if it were real. I wasn’t exactly sure of the implications of this approach, but I figured I
would find out soon enough.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">On a moody grey Sunday afternoon I drove down to the Docklands area wearing my Neurocam
Identifier badge and a shiny new pair of gumboots I had purchased earlier in the week. I parked
near the north wharf just before 4.45pm and walked towards the rendezvous point specified on
Neurocam’s map. As I approached the area I saw some people fishing off the wharf and a
young guy seated on a bench, obviously waiting for something. Although it seemed likely he
was another operative, he seemed very self-contained and I didn't approach him, but instead
went to the end of the wharf and surveyed the area beyond it.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Before long a car pulled up and a portly guy in his late twenties in a black t-shirt with dyed-black
hair distinctively worn long at the back and almost entirely receded at the top, emerged from it
and started looking around. I caught his eye and we approached each other, noting each other's
Neurocam Identifiers as we drew closer. We introduced ourselves, both producing pens and
notepads (his an A4 lecture pad, mine a little pocket notebook) to write down each other’s
names, with some mutual amusement at the strangeness of the situation.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">He identified himself as Shemjaza or Shem. We talked a bit about the assignment and
characteristics of the location, including the people currently present at the scene. We decided
to indirectly approach the young man sitting on the bench and see how he reacted.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">His response to our approach was consistent with that of someone expecting to meet strangers,
and once we had exchanged cursory greetings, he produced his identifier badge from his
pocket. We then introduced ourselves; he gave his name as Roger. He was probably in his late-
teens, skinny and very reserved. </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">We discussed peoples' potential willingness to get their feet wet. Shem and I noted that we had
both come prepared for this eventuality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At 4.50pm another operative arrived on foot, a young Asian guy in a bright orange t-shirt who
approached us with little hesitation. He introduced himself as Colin. Shem and I both got out our
notebooks again.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">We continued to talk about the assignment; what the two items were likely to be, how many
people we thought would show up, etc. I'd brought a printout of the assignment briefing and
read over parts of it aloud.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The next operative to arrive was a sturdy middle-aged man who gave his name as Auto 04,
followed shortly after by an older woman called Arachni who sat down on the bench, lit up a
small marijuana pipe and began inhaling the sweet-smelling smoke. She was obviously
attempting to follow Neurocam’s widely advertised directive—‘get out of your mind’.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Next to arrive was a diminutive middle-aged man named American Guy, then a man in his
twenties who arrived on a motorbike and introduced himself as Wintermute. Next arrived a
woman in her twenties or early thirties called Bunny.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">By this point, Shemjaza had fallen into the role of name-taker, and as such had become a focal
point for the group. I was still standing next to him and also taking notes (apparently we were
the only ones doing this) whilst those who had arrived subsequently were gathered around us in
a vague semicircle, and I felt a bit like the deputy sheriff, although I didn't take any kind of
leadership role in subsequent proceedings. Shem, on the other hand, sustained a vague
leadership role throughout the operation.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought about the strangeness of the situation and the fact that everyone who had arrived so
far seemed to be convincingly playing the role of Neurocam operatives on assignment. Even </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Shem’s assumed leadership role did not appear in any way suspicious; he appeared to be a
natural leader and it was obvious that the operation needed some kind of organisation. I
wondered if any of the people around me were secretly operating on another level, working for
Neurocam as plants in order to steer events in a certain direction. I decided to keep a lookout
for any actions that seemed in any way unnatural or contrived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Next to arrive was Jonathan, a fresh-faced Apple Centre retail rep from Moonie Ponds. Shortly
after that a guy probably in his twenties called Xade arrived accompanied by a woman of similar
age who announced herself as Johanna initially, later defaulting to JoJo.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">A large group arrived next. At Shemjaza's request, they announced their names: MK Ultra
(male, in his 20s–30s?), Benjamin (male, teens), Tosh (male, unsure), Plasmo (female, teens or
early 20s), Dubya (male, teens or early 20s), Fraggle (male, 50s), Tillops (male, unsure),
BishBash (unsure), and Binkus (unsure). Following these arrivals was Fleegle (female, 20s?).
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At approximately 5.10pm, Shemjaza asked for a show of hands as he wanted to know who was
willing to get their feet wet. Maybe 10 or so people were. He proposed that those operatives
explore the area beyond the edge of the wharf, meaning the rocks leading down to the water
and around the pillars under the bridge, whilst everyone else covered the remaining area. A
vague consensus was reached that anyone who found anything interesting should yell out and
that if no-one was able to find anything after twenty-minutes or so, we should reassemble at the
bench to re-think our collective strategy. Whilst these arrangements were being discussed, two
more operatives arrived—Nathan (male, 20s) and Aliask (male, teens).
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I opted to start off searching the rocks leading down to the water. I scrutinised many plastic
bottles and peered into many nooks and crannies. I pulled a red plastic chair out of the water,
but it was revealed to be just a red plastic chair. I moved down towards the bridge pillars and
joined the group investigating that area.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At around 5.20pm we heard shouts from the surface of the wharf. A group had assembled </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">around an area on its right-hand edge, facing the river. Operative Nathan had discovered a
stoppered glass bottle suspended over the edge of the wharf on a length of string. The bottle
was filled with yellow water, and contained a small piece of paper with Neurocam branding on
one side, and the digits 236405 handwritten on the other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Whilst this object was being examined and discussed, American Guy came over from his
search area and showed us something of interest that he had discovered. He had a handbag
filled mostly with women's clothes: a short black skirt; some stockings; some old-fashioned, very
conservative underwear which, if I recall correctly, included a corset; a pair of circular plastic
clothes hangers; a spare, unopened pair of stockings; a small plastic spray bottle, which may
have contained deodorant or mouth-freshener; a leather belt; and a cheap shoulder-length red-
black wig in fairly good condition. He had found this object and some other apparently related
items under some bushes just outside the designated area.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">These items were also examined and discussed. There was uncertainty about their relevance to
the assignment. Some operatives including myself, Jonathan, American Guy and Benjamin,
went to make further examinations of the bushes where the handbag had been found. Draped
across the bushes were a sweater and blouse that seemed to belong with the rest of the clothes
and a single, long stiletto boot. I did not establish whether these items had been found in that
location or had been moved there subsequent to discovery.
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I looked inside the boot and systematically unpacked the handbag. The banal, valueless nature
of the items; their discovery outside the designated search area; and the absence of anything
which could be connected with the number in the bottle amongst them, all pointed to the
conclusion that they were not what we were looking for. I did suspect that Neurocam personnel
planted these items for the assignment as a red herring. If this were the case, it would have
meant that Neurocam had set up the circumstances of the assignment deliberately and that
contrary to the briefing, we were not engaged in a genuine interception exercise. By why would
they go to so much trouble to set up such an elaborate hoax?
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I moved back into the designated area and went back to exploring the rocks. I encountered
Xade, who'd discovered two paper napkins with interesting messages scrawled on them in pen,
both dated 28/11/08. He said he'd found them inside plastic bottles amongst the rocks. One
said something like "Max—Hi, how is everyone going? I'm in Australia. Hope you are good."
The other said "[illegibly noted name]—Hi, here's a bottle and a bag." Just as I was wondering
whether this meant that maybe the handbag was important after all, excited shouts began
issuing from under the bridge to the effect that ‘it’ had been found. This was at about 5.40pm.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">‘It’ turned out to be a metal briefcase, which had been discovered by Operative Dubya, partly
concealed inside an opening on the underside of an overhead lighting turret, attached to the
furthest pillar under Bolte Bridge, facing the river. The briefcase was unreachable without some
kind of elevation. Fortunately, an old wooden ladder had been discovered in the area earlier and
someone went and retrieved it. I wondered if this was a coincidence or if it had been
deliberately planted there. Dubya scaled the rickety ladder and retrieved the briefcase. I was
intrigued to note that the briefcase was identical to the one I had held in my possession for my
earlier assignment. I wondered if any of the others had been part of that assignment and also
made the connection. Perhaps this was a vital part of the narrative.
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWMt6cppQQFm3McNotUzFtThkWWydzOxApVKQJ7Mf4uNzFTIGfN1ESpSKuP-GPmi0QE6dRgYhg9ZuHeAYueRIEMh4-DLIZVM9CjCxq9Fj9dBzWAU11zfSYvvQD2926u5FDetZS_7D7cs0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-25+at+8.22.46+am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWMt6cppQQFm3McNotUzFtThkWWydzOxApVKQJ7Mf4uNzFTIGfN1ESpSKuP-GPmi0QE6dRgYhg9ZuHeAYueRIEMh4-DLIZVM9CjCxq9Fj9dBzWAU11zfSYvvQD2926u5FDetZS_7D7cs0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-25+at+8.22.46+am.png" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So far I had sensed a general reluctance from everyone present to talk about their Neurocam
involvement and other assignments they had participated in. It was as if we were all scared to
compromise our positions by breaching Neurocam’s clearly stated confidentiality protocols. Or it
might have been because we were all collectively suspending rational disbelief by playing the
game in a similar way. This created a strange atmosphere; we had to work together to complete
the assignment at hand, but we were all paranoid about each other and who might be a spy or a
plant reporting any misconduct back to the puppet masters.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Once Dubya had brought down the briefcase, we had to decide what to do with it. Shem pointed
out that it was likely that this was the object we were supposed to intercept and we should
simply take it with us, contact Neurocam as soon as possible and await further instructions.
Dubya, being the one who found the briefcase, seemed to be acting somewhat possessively as </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">if it was his prize to claim. Someone else wanted to open it and see what was inside. The
majority favoured this idea in spite our instructions being to “use whatever means are necessary
to *safely* retrieve the materials”. A discussion about how to open the combination locked
briefcase followed and Aliask suggested using the numbers found in the submerged bottle as
the code. The numbers worked and the briefcase was opened to reveal a small dictaphone.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Everyone gathered excitedly around Dubya as he played the tape in the device. A male voice,
which had been digitally altered to disguise the narrator’s identity, welcomed us as if this
moment had been expected. The voice identified itself as Charles Hastings and congratulated
us on successfully completing the assignment, revealing that it had been a staged ‘team training
exercise’. This seemed to me to be further reinforcement of the idea that this had all been
staged as part of a pervasive game. I wondered if the people around me had formed the same
conclusions. Hastings also instructed all present to acquire a white Japanese kabuki mask for
use on a future assignment, which was to be cut away below the upper lip, removing the chin
section. He reminded us to leave the scene as we'd found it, instructed JoJo to retain the
briefcase, Bunny to retain the dictaphone, and reminded all of us to submit our assignment
reports as soon as possible. It was more than a little creepy to hear Hastings refer to specific
operatives by name and I got the feeling that this made us all slightly suspicious of Bunny and
JoJo.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Several operatives made their own recordings of Hastings’ statement whilst it was played,
including Ben and Aliask. General conversation between operatives ensued about the contents
of the message, which many operatives including myself, had found difficult to hear all details of
the assignment. Some operatives exchanged web and email addresses in spite of being
uncertain of whether or not this was allowed. Someone was dispatched to return the ladder.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At around this point two males, probably in their early twenties arrived at the scene—one Asian,
one Caucasian. The Asian guy was wearing a Neurocam Identifier. The Caucasian guy claimed,
upon enquiry, that he had lost his, which made the company slightly hesitant, but it seemed to
be generally accepted that they were bona fide operatives, despite an initial sense of communal </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">suspicion that they might be interlopers, or part of some kind of setup. They made comments to
the effect of, "What did we miss? Presumably everything?" To which their were general
murmurs of confirmation. Shemjaza asked for their names. The Asian guy identified himself as
Lord [Something] and the Caucasian guy said his name was Kane.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Xade and Jojo were standing at the base of the pillar directly under the lighting turret at this
juncture; Xade was brandishing the two napkins for the benefit of various operatives who
wanted to photograph them. I asked him if I could note down the messages. He gave the
napkins to me. I copied out their contents (very illegibly, as it turned out) then handed them
back to him.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">With the assignment complete and the time approaching 6pm, everyone wandered back up to
the end of the wharf and started to disperse. Shem, who'd come by car, asked if anyone wanted
a lift anywhere, but no-one took him up on it. Walking up the wharf, I asked Ben if he'd be able
to send me his audio file of the tape recording. I thanked him and walked back to my car.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That evening I reflected on the day’s events and my first experience meeting other people
engaging in the same spurious activities as myself. I thought about the demographic; although
the crowd had been mostly male there were several women present. I imagined that taking the
kind of risks I had taken would be an activity possibly preferred by men, but I couldn’t be sure. I
recalled the woman I had given the briefcase to and considered that perhaps Neurocam had all
kinds of assignments; some interconnecting and others individual challenges. I didn’t really
have enough information to speculate about the gender balance in relation to the tasks we were
given. I had noticed that the age range was quite diverse ranging from people in their late-teens
to mid-fifties. And judging by the clothing people were wearing and what I had gleaned from
brief conversations with some of them, they didn’t seem to conform to any particular stereotype.
Like myself, they were probably all drawn to the mystery of Neurocam and willing to play along
with whatever they threw at us. Or did they have other motivations that I was unaware of?
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought more about Jane McGonigal’s theory about pervasive game play in relation to the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">outcome of the assignment. Having the message from Hastings delivered via a dictaphone
which we had found in a briefcase unlocked by a code found in a bottle seemed exactly like
elements in the types of games McGonigal discussed and dissected. She was concerned with a
new type of game, which began online and moved out into the real world, integrating real life
with fabrication. Apart from a lack of labelling and a clearly outlined context, Neurocam could
have been doing something very similar. And all of us wanted to believe that it was real; that we
really were working together to solve this meta-narrative mystery. McGonigal claims that:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The key to immersive design is to realize that the clear visibility of the puppetmasters’
work behind the curtain does not lessen the players’ enjoyment. Rather, a beautifully
crafted and always visible frame for the play heightens (and makes possible in the first
place) the players’ pleasure – just as long as the audience can play along, wink back at
the puppetmasters and </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">pretend </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">to believe.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I wondered if she had read <i>The Magus</i>. This all fitted beautifully apart from one key aspect:
the work of Neurocam’s puppet masters behind the curtain was </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">not </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">visible. In fact they had
gone to a lot of trouble to make sure that there was nil possibility of winking back at them while
we played along.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Again I thought of <i>The Magus</i> and how Fowles rationalised the strange activities encountered
by the main protagonist as a new concept in theatre. Conchis, a character written clearly in
terms that McGonigal would identify as a puppet master, tells Nicholas that:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">During the war, when I had a great deal of time to think, and no friends to amuse me, I
conceived of a new kind of drama. One in which the conventional separation between
actors and audience was abolished. In which the conventional scenic geography, the
notions of proscenium, stage, auditorium were completely discarded. In which the
continuity of performance, either in time or place, was ignored. And in which the action,
the narrative was fluid, with only a point of departure and a fixed point of conclusion.
Between these points the participants invent their own drama.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">There was a significant difference between McGonigal’s puppet masters and what Fowles is
proposing—Fowles was most certainly not talking about altering reality to facilitate some kind of
game</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">If anything was discernible from Fowles’ obtuse story, it was pointing more to a type of
art form that utilised the very fabric of reality to construct (aesthetic) experiences for </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">participants. And yet this was altogether different from GK Chesterton’s idea of a society that
manufactured experiences to inject some excitement into the lives of its subscribers. Perhaps <i>The Magus</i> was the key. The experiences constructed for the main character seemed to show
him new ways of looking at the world around him as well as teaching him about his own
psychology through exploring his relationships with others. It was plausible that this idea related
to the power of theatre and immersive narratives to facilitate transformative experiences. I
wondered whether Neurocam had already arranged a ‘fixed point of conclusion’, which would
clarify things at some point in the future.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In the days that followed I thought more and more about Neurocam and what it was. I emailed a
couple of operatives I had exchanged email addresses with on the assignment and asked for
their thoughts on the matter. Both were reluctant to discuss Neurocam, which made me
somehow suspicious of them. Disclosing details of assignments was clearly forbidden, but
discussing the nature of Neurocam seemed reasonable. Perhaps they knew more than I did and
had their own set of restrictions. When I wasn’t working I spent a lot of time on the Internet
hunting around for clues as to what new activities were going on in the world that might have
some bearing on the mystery I was embroiled within. The gaming world didn’t seem to have
changed much over the last few months and pervasive games were still operating largely as
either viral marketing strategies or interactive entertainment. There was no mention of any such
games that were operating anonymously or subversively; authorship and terms of engagement
were always clearly defined. The kidnapping business in New York appeared to be an
enterprise that hadn’t caught on anywhere else in the world. I was all but out of leads when I
received an email from a friend who was really excited about an art project she had recently
participated in.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">My friend was living in London and had heard about a performance art group based in Ireland
who called themselves <i><a href="http://reactor.org.uk/projects/ivans-dogs" target="_blank">Ivan’s Dogs</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Apparently these people attempted to create unsettling
and unpredictable experiences for a diverse audience by taking willing participants on
mysterious guided trips to unknown locations. They operated from a central website which </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">deliberately offered minimal information about who they were and what they do, and always
disguised their identities by wearing dog head masks. Generally they were said to regard their
audience as prisoners, treating them roughly and forcing them to complete grueling tasks such
as digging trenches in stony ground.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle295SVQSMuMB1ROHpdapTg9KbaKA3FnA8Zu6XG-Q-eOaKPIbZZ8Wpzz3AEYsPoEDqs_39HinrykMesK0QsNiZ5Mza_oYEFm6a3JCVTLAInlFd8F-qDoQp83HfvCvQZp7Zab455KJmV4k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-25+at+8.13.20+am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle295SVQSMuMB1ROHpdapTg9KbaKA3FnA8Zu6XG-Q-eOaKPIbZZ8Wpzz3AEYsPoEDqs_39HinrykMesK0QsNiZ5Mza_oYEFm6a3JCVTLAInlFd8F-qDoQp83HfvCvQZp7Zab455KJmV4k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-25+at+8.13.20+am.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">My friend related a fantastic and terrifying account of how she had travelled to Ireland for her
‘appointment’ with the Dogs and been roughly thrown in the back of a white van, driven to a
deserted area above some seaside cliffs and made to dig a grave for herself while the Dogs
continuously berated her. At one point she had needed to use the toilet and had been ushered
to a filthy outhouse and locked inside for over an hour while her escort regaled her with colorful
tales of the area’s local history. She said that although she had known that the experience was
perpetrated by a group of performance artists, she had at times felt genuinely scared by the
unpredictability of the situation and the performers’ relentless maintenance of character.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Very interested in the idea of a group of artists staging activities that were so similar to
Neurocam, I emailed my London friend back and asked her for more details. The next day she
replied with a link to their website and told me that she had heard about them through friends at
an art gallery opening. In response to my question about how she knew that they were artists if
their website gave away very little information, she said that she didn’t really know for sure, but
her friends had told her that they had featured on an arts website. I brought up their website and
it certainly didn’t mention anything about who they were or what they were doing beyond taking
‘appointments’. I googled them and came across a link to the arts website they were mentioned
on. It was a site that featured reviews on various art projects happening in the UK at that time,
and contained an article from a reviewer who had been on his own Dogs adventure. The article
mentioned that the Dogs were a ‘performance art collective’, but did not refer to any of their
previous projects, biographies or anything to substantiate this claim.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I found it fascinating that artists might engage in these kinds of activities; to give an audience an
experience outside of the confines of the gallery space that was not a passive spectacle. In my
understanding of performance art, artists had done some pretty crazy things, but the audience </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">was still very much the audience, knowing that they were witnessing something done in the
name of art. What was different in this case was the fact that the Dogs were creating tailor-
made experiences for audiences, of which the outcomes were dependent on how participants
reacted to the situation at hand. If someone was told to dig a grave, they had the option of
refusing. If this happened I imagined that they would simply do something else.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought about the positioning of the artists themselves and how they chose to remain
anonymous, rather than credit themselves as the perpetrators of the work. This was not
something I had heard of before in the context of art practice and not something that I fully
understood. I saw art as something clearly defined and the people who created it as always
being somehow separate from the audience. As far as I knew the Dogs represented an entirely
new precedent and something that related to Fowles’ concept of a ‘new kind of theatre’. The
similarities to Neurocam were striking, although I hadn’t yet seen or heard of anyone who had
referred to Neurocam as a new type of performance art project. I was excited, as this example
seemed like a better fit than pervasive games, Chesterton’s <i>Adventure and Romance Agenc</i>y
idea, and even <i>The Magus</i>. I decided to explore the idea that I was participating in a new type
of art experience. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-31985872928689227252013-10-17T15:54:00.000-07:002013-10-17T16:30:34.955-07:0003 Covert Surveillance<div class="page" title="Page 91">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Following the odd briefcase incident I dutifully wrote up my report as requested by Mr Hastings.
It felt very strange to be putting in this much effort for something I wasn’t being paid for that had
no obvious rewards, but too much had happened for me to simply walk away now. Whatever
narrative hook Neurocam was using seemed to be working on me. Part of me felt strangely
flattered that so much time and energy had been spent by the perpetrators of this experience
purely for my benefit, which was why I felt motivated to continue. I also now had a sense of
belonging to something, in spite of the anonymous nature of whatever it was. If this was a new
type of game set up by persons unknown, I was happy to play along with them and see where it
led. I wasn’t really expecting a response to my report and was quite surprised when Hastings
promptly wrote back with the following:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Dear Operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons)
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Your report for Neurocam Assignment NCI-4351/02 has been received and filed. Neurocam
International's Operations Division is currently reviewing your report. Your performance will
soon be assessed in accordance with our operational criteria. The results of this assessment
will be noted on your file.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam International appreciates the unorthodox nature of this assignment and your
willingness to continue your association with the organisation despite this unusual request.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">You will receive the details of your next assignment within 8–10 working days.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Neurocam International</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Not exactly a highly personalised note of gratitude and encouragement. So Neurocam were
keeping a file on me, and assessing my performance in accordance to their operational criteria.
Not knowing what their operational criteria was made this statement a little meaningless, but
nonetheless it was interesting to know that I was being tested in some way. I appreciated
Hastings’ acknowledgment of the unorthodox nature of the assignment and my willingness to
continue, although the general tone was so detached and impersonal that I couldn’t imagine
ever being able to have a beer down at the pub with him. The email seemed to be so generic
that I wondered if perhaps it was a form letter that had been sent out to many people in
response to many different assignments. I was excited to think that there could be a vast
number of assignments in store, all of which were unorthodox in nature.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In considering that there was a strong possibility that I wasn’t the only one running around doing
crazy things for Neurocam, I still didn’t understand why I hadn’t heard anything about this
‘game’ or whatever it was via the media or the Internet. Although I could see why participation
necessitated an element of mystery, it didn’t make sense that other participants wouldn’t at least
blog or tweet about their experiences. Neurocam did make it clear that they wanted us to
maintain total secrecy in regard to our involvement, but I found it hard to believe that someone
hadn’t spilled the beans. I wasn’t exactly sure what Neurocam’s policy on telling friends and
family about our involvement was, so I decided to email Hastings and ask him. His reply was
more than a little disturbing:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Dear Operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons)
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In the Operational Security section of your assignments please note the following information:
operatives are strictly forbidden from revealing any details pertaining to this assignment. If you
wish to continue your involvement with our organisation absolute discretion is paramount.
Operatives may not divulge any information about their assignments or affiliation with the
organisation to anyone. Partners, family, friends and colleagues are no exception. Any
operatives found to be in breach of this contractual agreement will be terminated immediately </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">and removed from our database. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions you must
cease your involvement with us immediately.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Neurocam International</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Once again I was reminded of Fincher’s film <i>Fight Club</i> and Tyler Durden’s non-negotiable
request that all members of the club were unable to mention their subversive activities to
anyone under any circumstances. At the conclusion of the film it became clear that Durden’s
subversive agenda (blowing up credit card company buildings) was something that could only
be orchestrated with total secrecy. It was an interesting angle, especially in the context of a
game like Neurocam that was quite possibly involving many players. Surely it was some kind of
test to see how committed we were to the game; to see if we were prepared to go the extra
mile. Creating a scenario where we were expected to keep secrets from partners was extreme; I
imagined a hypothetical scenario where a husband might think his wife was cheating on him
when she lied about her whereabouts while out on an assignment. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Fortunately I didn’t have to
face this dilemma as I was single and rarely saw my family who lived in another country. I
wondered what I would do if I were in a relationship, whether or not I would be prepared to keep
secrets from and lie to a partner. I thought about the odd-looking couple at the party a few
weeks back who seemed to be talking publicly about Neurocam. How would Neurocam know if
we were being indiscreet? Obviously to post information on blogs, Facebook or Twitter would be
easily picked up, but to have conversations with people at parties or in the privacy of one’s own
home? The idea of Neurocam having a team of people who were constantly following us and
bugging our homes and work places to ensure we maintained absolute discretion was totally
far-fetched. Unless of course Neurocam was operating on a multi-million dollar budget and had
no respect for our privacy. I was sure that I hadn’t seen anything in our ‘contract’ about waiving
our rights to privacy, but I hadn’t looked that closely. I wondered if Neurocam was making me </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">into a more secretive type of person.</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That night I rented Fincher’s earlier film <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119174/" target="_blank">The Game</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">, </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">which I had seen before, but wanted to
examine in more detail after my latest Neurocam dealings. I couldn’t stop thinking about the
wider implications of a game-like situation that attempted to encompass one’s entire reality as
well as demand complete loyalty and secrecy. In <i>The Game</i>, the CRS were a massive and
well-funded organisation with enough money, connections and power to completely subvert a
subscriber’s day-to-day life experiences. It was all an elaborate theatre of course, but one that
was certainly possible with enough planning and resources. So why was this idea constrained
to the world of fiction? Surely Fincher had proved with his film that this idea was not only
achievable, but that there would be a demand for this type of practice. Extremely wealthy
people who wanted the ‘ultimate experience’ would surely pay good money to have a team of
experts manufacture an alternate reality adventure based around their most extravagant and
outrageous desires. The key to Fincher’s concept was that these adventures happened
unexpectedly, with unpredictable outcomes. If participants signed up for an experience knowing
exactly what would happen when, the effectiveness of the exercise would be lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNh3gTIOeQJPNiWSD120ZRn5BYR55dGQMRmuCLZM4phYrUnwTAbqkgf2YxuCoHP8fk7MSsz0eYg1K0E8WZbveWEGtsNDR1duJwD3zFDHf-1tDASDM1IG2sNNqbD6eNf8k8Xz6rxLCvmNw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.10.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNh3gTIOeQJPNiWSD120ZRn5BYR55dGQMRmuCLZM4phYrUnwTAbqkgf2YxuCoHP8fk7MSsz0eYg1K0E8WZbveWEGtsNDR1duJwD3zFDHf-1tDASDM1IG2sNNqbD6eNf8k8Xz6rxLCvmNw/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.10.23+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The idea of a type of recreational reality altering experience could be traced back further in film
and television history with Gene Levitt’s 1978 TV series Fantasy Island</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">, which I had watched
religiously as a teenager. In <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077008/" target="_blank"><i>Fantasy Island</i> </a>people from all walks of life could pay to visit a
mysterious island in the Pacific where the enigmatic host Mr Roarke would orchestrate
elaborate works of theater, which enabled them to live out their fantasies. As with <i>The Game</i>,
the core elements of these scenarios occurred in such a way that they would always take
participants by surprise. And like John Fowles’ 1966 novel <i>The Magus</i>, the experiences would
always teach participants something about themselves.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9XH67ml4w8srXWvh6XID_AqRqcXDF7qxsBEUEgH1gnqETBmLUdp8vEVYPfQW9nZU2vRgyAK5NRcMP4WguIEA0iEZT1ShX-IJHvoOLgbE3FAfrPgXA_I1N5HYPxem27hOkv8dxsjrrrU4p/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.12.53+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9XH67ml4w8srXWvh6XID_AqRqcXDF7qxsBEUEgH1gnqETBmLUdp8vEVYPfQW9nZU2vRgyAK5NRcMP4WguIEA0iEZT1ShX-IJHvoOLgbE3FAfrPgXA_I1N5HYPxem27hOkv8dxsjrrrU4p/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.12.53+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Fascinated by the origins of such radical ideas I googled <i>The Game</i> and <i>Fantasy Island</i> to
see if they were based on any literary precedents. Sure enough Wikipedia mentioned that in
Fincher’s script for <i>The Game</i>, the whole idea of Consumer Recreation Services was derived </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">from GK Chesterton’s 1905 novel <i><a href="http://www.chesterton.org/discover-chesterton/chesterton-101/lecture-7/" target="_blank">The Club of Queer Trades</a></i> where he writes about a similar
organisation he calls the <i>Adventure and Romance Agency</i>. Chesterton writes:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The Adventure and Romance Agency has been started to meet a great modern desire.
On every side, in conversation and in literature, we hear of the desire for a larger
theatre of events for something to waylay us and lead us splendidly astray. Now the
man who feels this desire for a varied life pays a yearly or a quarterly sum to the
Adventure and Romance Agency; in return, the Adventure and Romance Agency
undertakes to surround him with startling and weird events. As a man is leaving his
front door, an excited sweep approaches him and assures him of a plot against his life;
he gets into a cab, and is driven to an opium den; he receives a mysterious telegram or
a dramatic visit, and is immediately in a vortex of incidents.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I found it intriguing that Chesterton had thought of this idea back in 1905 and felt that if this core
theme had existed in historical literature for over 100 years that it must have surfaced
somewhere in reality. Was this somehow linked to Neurocam? Was Neurocam a modern-day
version of the <i>Adventure and Romance Agency</i>? So far it didn’t obviously appear to be a
commercial enterprise, but couched within the intricate complexities of new types of games and
marketing strategies, it was entirely possible. I mentally ran through all of the people I knew and
wondered who would be the most likely to surreptitiously pay good money for me to have a GK
Chesterton style ‘experience’. And unlike <i>The Game</i>, I was midway between birthdays, so it
was obviously not a highly inventive birthday present.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0dGZgf-kcbKD2JiMFzaJQsR41AFijquYfVtZOj7ALQetmTyTYyKfB4KqJwdwtn7CHjmWMapjAacLtXORoLbJQ5UW228ULdm9JawDzjIQupdyUh6_EUkpNW4opzrTNtkVxkx_mf6LjUwN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.14.59+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0dGZgf-kcbKD2JiMFzaJQsR41AFijquYfVtZOj7ALQetmTyTYyKfB4KqJwdwtn7CHjmWMapjAacLtXORoLbJQ5UW228ULdm9JawDzjIQupdyUh6_EUkpNW4opzrTNtkVxkx_mf6LjUwN/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.14.59+AM.png" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Over the next few days I thought more about the implications of my Chesterton literature
discovery. The idea of something like the <i>Adventure and Romance Agency</i> was intriguing and
exciting, not only to myself, but also probably for most people. It could almost be seen as the
ultimate form of entertainment—far surpassing literature, theater, art, film, sport or games. It
was based on the essence of human experience and what makes up the construct of our reality.
Chesterton very eloquently writes about the need for this type of experience:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">It has continually struck us that there is no element in modern life that is more
lamentable than the fact that the modern man has to seek all artistic existence in a
sedentary state. If he wishes to float into fairyland, he reads a book; if he wishes to
dash into the thick of battle, he reads a book; if he wishes to soar into heaven, he reads
a book; if he wishes to slide down the banisters, he reads a book. We give him these
visions, but we give him exercise at the same time, the necessity of leaping from wall to
wall, of fighting strange gentlemen, of running down long streets from pursuers -- all
healthy and pleasant exercises. We give him a glimpse of that great morning world of
Robin Hood or the Knights Errant, when one great game was played under the splendid </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">sky. We give him back his childhood, that godlike time when we can act stories, be our
own heroes, and at the same instant dance and dream.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I found myself hoping that Neurocam really was something like this; something that would make
me feel alive, inspired and engaged in something exciting and mysterious. Something that
tapped into childhood fantasies and relinquished adult responsibilities. I felt ready for anything
that they would throw at me, no matter how far out of my comfort zone it might take me. I was
not disappointed when I finally received my next instructions from Mr Hastings:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">NEUROCAM TRAINING EXERCISE – NTE – 9001/01 – Covert Surveillance
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">(A) AIM</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">To hone operative (name withheld for security reasons) covert surveillance abilities in
anticipation of future assignment requirements, via the observation of an arbitrary individual.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">(B) EXECUTION</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Below are the procedural details for this assignment. Any deviation from the operational
protocol described may result in disciplinary action against the operative.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. There is a map attached to this assignment. This map details the exact location you are to
select your subject , and to follow them from. If possible, a camera should be taken on this
assignment.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. Travel to your location and find a suitable place to observe people in the area. Select your
subject.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Note: take time to select your subject. This is a training exercise, it is important you select a
person you can observe for at least 30 minutes.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. Once your subject has been selected, take note of the time.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4. Begin tailing your selected subject.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5. Throughout this exercise, you are expected to make periodic notes on the movements and
actions of your subject. In addition, whilst it is encouraged that you photograph the subject
discreetly, a written description including identifying features will suffice. At no point are you to </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">approach the target or let him/her become aware of your existence. For further details on this
stipulation, please refer to the Operational Security Brief within this assignment.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
6. Continue this exercise for at least 30 minutes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">7. Ensure you notate the location you cease tailing the target. If at any time the target enters a
building you cannot enter, for whatever reason, remain outside the building so that you may
continue tailing them if they should leave before the minimum time has elapsed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">8. Submit a report to the Operations Division operations@neurocam.com. Photographic
evidence is encouraged, but not essential.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">(C) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This is a ‘covert’ training exercise. If, at any point, the subject of your assignment becomes
aware of your existence, you are to IMMEDIATELY abort the assignment. If this occurs, you
are to vacate the area, wait 20 minutes, return and select a new subject.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Operatives are strictly forbidden from revealing any details pertaining to this assignment. Any
operative found doing so will suffer immediate dismissal from Neurocam.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">(D) TIMELINE</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The time restrictions of Neurocam’s ongoing operations dictate that Neurocam Training exercise
NTE-9001/01 must be completed by (date withheld for confidentiality reasons).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Neurocam International</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This was certainly a departure from the pattern that had been forming with my assignments so
far. I speculated that Neurocam wanted to hone my covert surveillance abilities in anticipation of
future assignments to give me some training, as it were. Part of me was slightly less than
enthusiastic about this, as I had anticipated something that pushed me into the thick of the </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">action. But this was Neurocam and I suspected that there would be significantly more to this
assignment than a mere training exercise. With Chesterton’s story fresh in my mind I imagined
the situation might well be a set-up; that Neurocam would somehow steer me towards a ‘target’
who was working for them. Or they might be following me and something might happen while I
was carrying out the exercise. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">As usual there was an infinite range of possibilities and the fact
that what they had asked of me was actually very strange, not to mention borderline legally,
morally and ethically questionable. To stalk some (possibly) random member of the public,
secretly take pictures of them and email them to some anonymous shadowy organisation was
quite a big ask. Sure, it took me out of my comfort zone, but to what end? In the context of an
ongoing narrative it definitely intrigued me as I thought about the possibilities of future
assignments where I would potentially need to use these newly acquired skills. This in itself was
enough to motivate me to do something I found to be a little creepy and invasive yet strangely
thrilling.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The map provided by Neurocam for this assignment marked out a starting point located at
Flinders Street Station’s Elizabeth Street exit. No time frame or date was given for when the
assignment was to take place, but I had to complete it within a week. The location was a place
that I frequented often during my weekly routine, so I knew that it was always busy and there
would be no shortage of ‘subjects’. I considered whether it would be better to do this at night or
during the day; during the day I would be more visible, but at night there would be less people
around. It felt very odd just thinking of the practicalities of what I was about to do.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The next day I planned to take the train to work so I would have to pass through Flinders Street
Station anyway. There was no harm in doing some preliminary reconnaissance. It occurred to
me that I was starting to change my routines because of Neurocam. Perhaps the very process
of changing these routines was giving me some kind of experience; altering my destiny in some
small but significant way. I was essentially accepting their directives without question. Any
rationale for why this was acceptable was mainly coming from myself and from my own ideas in
relation to what was happening to me. I thought about some of the sociological precedents for
blindly following orders. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Cult religions were renowned for brainwashing their members into </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">unquestioning loyalty to the cult leadership. But cult religions had very specific belief systems
and strong, charismatic leaders who paid individual attention to the ‘flock’. Neurocam could be
fostering a band of blindly loyal followers, but there was no clear directive or even rapport
between members. And there certainly wasn’t a strong leader, unless the mysterious CEO Ms
Fischer counted as one. If she was the leader, she certainly didn’t spend any time making us
lowly operatives feel special. I suppose there was some kind of belief system with Neurocam in
that the element of mystery and excitement was in itself something we believed had meaning
and relevance to our lives. Whether or not this was entirely self-constructed was as yet unclear.
In this sense Neurocam was like a blank canvas onto which we projected our own ideas of what
we wanted it to be.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">As I stepped off the train at the tail end of rush hour, there were people everywhere rushing in
all directions. I stopped walking, conscious of disrupting the flow, and observed them. If I was to
randomly pick one of these individuals, how would I be able to identify them through the dense
crowds as I tailed them for thirty minutes? Obviously choosing a thirty-something man of
medium height in a charcoal-grey business suit would prove immensely challenging, so I would
have to look for some uniquely identifying characteristics. Things that stand out in a crowd are
actually surprisingly difficult to find during rush hour. The majority of commuters are dressed in
a similar fashion and are on their way to work. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I tried a test case and started following a tall
man, distinguishable mainly by his suit trousers, which had way too much clearance above his
nondescript dress shoes. As the man strode confidently through the crowd I matched his pace
and slipped into step with him several paces behind. This went well until he paused to check his
phone. Being one of those types who prefer not to attempt locomotion while reading or sending
text messages, he stopped walking altogether and stood like an island in the middle of a moving
sea of people. Matching this move was something I was totally unprepared for and as I stopped
just behind him I realised how ridiculous I must look. I decided to abort this attempt and try
again. It occurred to me that I was already late for work and needed to make getting there a
priority. I regretted not being able to continue the assignment until later. Why would I rather
muck about playing clumsy spy games in the street than go and make decent money doing
something I was actually good at?
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">At work I was restless and distracted. I had an overwhelming urge to tell someone what was
going on and get some much needed perspective, but worried that it might compromise my
Neurocam adventures. As Neurocam had clearly stated, it was a choice: either play by their
rules or walk away. Such an uncompromising proposition reminded me of a scene in the
Wachowski brothers 1999 film <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/" target="_blank">The Matrix</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">where Keanu Reeves is forced to choose the red
pill or the blue pill to either keep living his ‘normal’ life or step boldly into the unknown and
discover something profound and disturbing. Of course Reeve’s character Neo had no idea of
the outcomes of this decision at the time; he had to take the risk and commit to something he
knew very little about. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdsoHGT7aGTR5NpqH0jJ5wv-GILEE76x20a9oaGFtuub2Z5uLSufMBBoj67_FC4n6Wn6JLQ-tHVrRBys903M_gEJQmPHKzwl53hOEgoMjPFq-J4VG5I9LZZUbtoFHs7hrDetQJi63Mroy/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.19.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdsoHGT7aGTR5NpqH0jJ5wv-GILEE76x20a9oaGFtuub2Z5uLSufMBBoj67_FC4n6Wn6JLQ-tHVrRBys903M_gEJQmPHKzwl53hOEgoMjPFq-J4VG5I9LZZUbtoFHs7hrDetQJi63Mroy/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.19.05+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Was this what I was doing with Neurocam? Taking a risk and committing
myself to something I knew precious little about? I was again reminded of the enigmatic quote
on Neurocam’s website by CEO Bridget Fischer:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Some of the most rewarding experiences we have come about through random
circumstances of which we have no real understanding. It is sometimes important to
commit to something we know very little about if the act of commitment in itself
becomes part of an experience.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Obviously my commitment was part of my experience, but was I going to have a profoundly life-
changing revelation like Neo who discovers that all life on Earth is nothing more than an
elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence to placate us? And was it really a
risk? Undertaking a task where I was effectively stalking someone did constitute a minor legal
risk as one could potentially be arrested for harassment if the person being stalked made a
complaint to the authorities. This was assuming that I would be on my own out there and
Neurocam would not be monitoring the situation.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">By lunchtime I had psyched myself into having another attempt at my training exercise. I walked
back to my starting point armed with my trusty iPhone with which I could take pictures, video or
notes without seeming too conspicuous. Loitering around the station entrance I was pleased to
see that a more diverse crowd were present. I was poised for action, waiting for a distinguished </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">subject to walk through the station gates. Seconds later a young woman wearing a fluorescent lime-green t-shirt emerged. Looking at her braided hair I knew
that this was my target. I immediately fell into step with her and adjusted to her pace, which was
much slower than I would usually walk. She was traveling light, with only a small handbag, and
didn’t look like she was off to work. Perhaps she had come into the city for some shopping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZEaObsc1w81adZHH1ilPGLZjMD-bWWfxEJhhdjLQjS8g0bO6ly7Ax7Wh9H8h_F2xn9PXkEwqXNLmkmbN_daMC5MWvsqigtUAhkym9Hgp3sR7Ood-hVe9ZPZJztOuuWWbv-dWtZ0VXZvX/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.22.31+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZEaObsc1w81adZHH1ilPGLZjMD-bWWfxEJhhdjLQjS8g0bO6ly7Ax7Wh9H8h_F2xn9PXkEwqXNLmkmbN_daMC5MWvsqigtUAhkym9Hgp3sR7Ood-hVe9ZPZJztOuuWWbv-dWtZ0VXZvX/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.22.31+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">As we made our way along Elizabeth Street with me following about 10 meters behind, I thought
about the numerous movies or TV programs I had seen where covert surveillance had been a
common theme. In these scenarios the person tailing the subject, usually a private investigator,
seemed to be uncannily adept at following people for long periods of time while effortlessly
blending into the crowd. As I stalked my victim trying to effect total nonchalance, I re-played
many of these scenes in my head and thought about how sometimes our perception of reality is
so heavily influenced by film and TV culture. It was very unusual for me to be in this situation in
the first place, but even stranger that the only point of reference I had was related to pure
fabrication.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">As the woman I was following walked slowly but purposely along Elizabeth Street and turned
right into Little Lonsdale Street, I realised that she was probably heading to Myers. Until now my
task had been relatively simple, I had followed at a discreet distance and had successfully
blended into the crowd. I had even managed a couple of snaps of my subject, taken when she
was waiting at pedestrian crossings. While taking these shots I had tried to make it look as if I
was simply checking my phone, albeit at a rather high angle. My suspicions were confirmed, as
she turned right again into Myers and walked along the crowed isle towards what looked like the
women's clothing department. I could already tell that this was going to make my task somewhat more
difficult. As my subject reached the clothing department and began to browse various racks, I had to somehow counter her moves with some of my own that did not
make me stand out like a creepy stalker. It was entirely possible that a man like myself could be
browsing a women’s clothing department for a present for a partner, sister or daughter.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzZfcmLAkPy03tqrzgmpFMw7sN7uyyHqhUdCHdjqACVF3cz6-MctBGcNHc3QTBu6H3Rx2smGZak7F4WOqbUcrLZrkXNbXUtJpKj8DG_kO_vR0ImSX3Z1B8dECu51XZjGTVtTh0hGn9Nhj/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.23.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzZfcmLAkPy03tqrzgmpFMw7sN7uyyHqhUdCHdjqACVF3cz6-MctBGcNHc3QTBu6H3Rx2smGZak7F4WOqbUcrLZrkXNbXUtJpKj8DG_kO_vR0ImSX3Z1B8dECu51XZjGTVtTh0hGn9Nhj/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.23.23+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I realised that I had never been in this situation before, in spite of the fact I was on official </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam business. As I pretended to browse displays for cosmetics I didn’t even know
existed, I was all the while glancing over at my subject who seemed absorbed in her shopping.
All of a sudden I became acutely aware that we were the only two people in that section of the
store. This made the situation infinitely more fraught as I realised that looking at my subject was
now a potential danger zone. This was confirmed as my next glance over at her was met with
her looking directly back at me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8RZGUDn-3P7mNkZH2nF8WnWwzmeDZyKDPAUd3tAp8e7iySTTIE6dbXoNBYfABTMdQlDX94_ALMHoMdjse5PnH5SgaPpC06U0XBtv9_JBj5JLaxlmpCX7bdi8xfeI5rTWt4dUVoQDT5zH/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.22.56+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8RZGUDn-3P7mNkZH2nF8WnWwzmeDZyKDPAUd3tAp8e7iySTTIE6dbXoNBYfABTMdQlDX94_ALMHoMdjse5PnH5SgaPpC06U0XBtv9_JBj5JLaxlmpCX7bdi8xfeI5rTWt4dUVoQDT5zH/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.22.56+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I quickly looked away, but felt incredibly stressed and nervous. I
had to do something; I couldn’t abort the mission now. Being completely disarmed by the
situation, all I could manage was to pick up an Estée Lauder lip-gloss tester and stare dumbly at
it. I could sense the woman’s presence, but was too afraid to look at her. At this point I realised
that this was the answer; to sense her presence rather than overtly look at her. Adopting this
technique I tuned into a kind of spatial awareness that connected us like two points on a flat
plane. As she moved further away, I slowly gravitated closer, all the while not looking at her and
keeping myself absorbed in my assumed role, which was pretending to be choosing make-up
for a partner. This worked well and we were able to co-exist in a normal and non-threatening
dynamic. As she eventually walked up to the counter to purchase some items I stole a glance at
my phone and found that I had become so absorbed in the task at hand that I had actually
exceeded my thirty-minute time requirement significantly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I felt so invigorated at having overcome the challenge of covertly observing my subject at close
range in a difficult situation that I wanted to continue. I knew that the real challenge would be to
continue following her after she had seen me close-up in the cosmetics department. If she saw
me after that she would surely suspect that I was following her and quite possibly take action.
This meant that there was now far more at stake and I would not be able to make the slightest
mistake. For the next hour I followed the woman in the lime-green t-shirt all around Melbourne
Central and on a tram back to Flinders Street Station. I had mastered the art of covert
surveillance.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">That evening while I wrote up my report I wondered if Hastings would be proud of me for going
beyond the call of duty. I decided to make excelling in every assignment my new strategy—if I
was going to play this game I may as well get the highest score possible. Neurocam had </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">already told me that they were evaluating our performance, so I knew that they would notice my
style of game play. In a moment of self-reflection I observed that instead of going out drinking
with friends, I was spending a Friday night at home alone writing up an overly detailed report on
bizarre actions I had carried out for a mysterious organisation of which I knew nothing about.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Later that evening after a few glasses of red and endless roaming around the Internet’s more
interesting nooks and crannies, I discovered a very intriguing link to a news article entitled <i><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2163666.stm" target="_blank">Kidnapping for Kicks in New York</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">. In this article reporter Matt Wells investigates a bizarre
new business in New York City where a team of artists are paid to violently kidnap clients. Each
kidnapping is tailored for the client’s specific needs and can take place at any time over a
number of days or weeks, providing an element of surprise. This was really quite fantastic and
very relevant to Fincher’s idea of the CRS and Chesterton’s Adventure and Romance Agency.
So the idea of people subscribing to a business enterprise to receive an ‘experience’ had now
transcended the realms of fiction. Jason, a carpenter in his mid-twenties had gone through the
kidnap experience three times and says, "It's about stepping outside of yourself. I wanted to see
what I could do." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlYosHVj0b2XVLMYJibmONvsYHh0cbA7K9UXkdnKMld0orazZk_eQfgSTGqGoi-3rp2iJA622oX8E9eI8uOZ06cguDgpWvWyKNI5G3fMEaK0fncEH4rE2g_Er8gErACFSrrzfRuwNX283/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.29.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlYosHVj0b2XVLMYJibmONvsYHh0cbA7K9UXkdnKMld0orazZk_eQfgSTGqGoi-3rp2iJA622oX8E9eI8uOZ06cguDgpWvWyKNI5G3fMEaK0fncEH4rE2g_Er8gErACFSrrzfRuwNX283/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-18+at+10.29.37+AM.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">What can one do when one is being kidnapped? Although this was in some
ways more extreme, it was starting to sound uncannily similar to my recent experiences with
Neurocam. Apparently Brock Enright, a twenty-five-year-old artist who originally set it up as a
piece of video installation art, created the business. I wasn’t an expert in American
contemporary art, but I thought that kidnapping people on the streets of Manhattan seemed
pretty radical even for the art world. I found it vaguely distasteful that contemporary American
society accepted kidnapping as a leisure activity when there were still places in the world where
real kidnapping was an everyday, life-threatening occurrence.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought about the similarities between Enright’s kidnapping business and Neurocam
International. Although Enright’s kidnappings were spontaneous to a degree, the process was
heavily mediated by an actual transaction in which the client was essentially paying for a </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">service. So far Neurocam had not actively initiated any form of direct interaction with me and
had relied on my willingness to participate to make things happen. This did not mean that they
would not use direct action in the future however, and I admit that this thought excited me
greatly. Having read about the New York kidnappings, I actually craved a similar type of
experience. With Neurocam there was a frustrating lack of control in the process of interaction,
as it did not conform to the structure of a commercial enterprise. Enright’s kidnapping clients
however were paying for something to happen, so they always knew that Enright and crew
would (eventually) deliver. If they didn’t, they would rightfully be able to ask for their money
back. In my situation, I had signed up for something unknown and had not paid any money. I
could not demand consumer satisfaction as no commercial contract had been entered into. The
only precedent for this type experience I could find was Fowles’ novel <i>The Magus</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 700;">, </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">where the
unsuspecting protagonist Nicholas Urfe enters a ‘masque’ and his reality is subverted by the
elaborate machinations of an anonymous society whose motivations, even at the conclusion of
the book, are unclear. Obviously Neurocam must be aware of all of these texts, movies and
enterprises, but who were their real influences and what game were they really playing? </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-64996114166051670812013-04-03T22:45:00.001-07:002013-10-17T16:04:12.823-07:0002 The Briefcase<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The first week of my life as an official member of Neurocam passed uneventfully in spite of my
mind racing with all the far-fetched possibilities this might entail. Having been informed that my
‘operational deployment’ would be ‘effective immediately’, I was ready for action. Recent events
had convinced me that Neurocam had some money, substance, and organisation behind them
that could not be easily dismissed. In a way Neurocam had already changed my life; it had
forced me to consider an altogether different way of looking at my reality and the underlying
logic defining everything within it.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">This shift in my own perceptions brought to mind the fantastic and elaborate Crop Circle hoax
that had occurred in the UK almost 30 years ago. </span><a href="http://www.livescience.com/26540-crop-circles.html" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Crop Circles</a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> are patterns created by the
flattening of crops such as wheat, barley, corn and linseed. Various hypotheses have been
offered to explain their formation, ranging from the naturalistic to the paranormal. People
believed for years that UFOs created them, until in 1991 two men from Southampton
announced that they had conceived the idea as a prank in 1976. Using four-foot planks
attached to ropes, they were able to make 12 meter circles in 15 minutes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I thought that Crop Circles had similarities to Neurocam in that they altered the perceptions of
the public by creating mystery, intrigue and speculation. But was Neurocam a hoax? Crop
Circles were always intended to make people believe specifically that UFOs had created them,
which in retrospect seems like quite an obvious gag. Crop Circles were also very artistic,
creating aesthetically beautiful patterns for air travelers to enjoy. If Neurocam was an elaborate
hoax like this, what was it supposed to make people believe? So far it simply seemed strange
and confusing, as I couldn’t contextualise it in any way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">One evening while looking at </span><a href="http://www.circlemakers.org/" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>Circlemakers</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, the official Crop Circles website, I came across an
interesting </span><a href="http://www.circlemakers.org/jim.html" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">article</a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> by freelance journalist Jim Schnabel. Schnabel writes about Crop Circles</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">as being an anomaly that changes the way we see things:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Like the descent into an LSD trip, where the filters of ordinary perception are removed
and every dew-drop, every phrase, floods the mind with its fulsome infinity, the journey
into the heart of an anomaly can teach one the ultimate precariousness of perception.
Nothing is what it seems to be—or rather, beyond a few shared basics, everything can
be seen as something else.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Schnabel’s thoughts about the ‘journey into the heart of an anomaly’ related acutely to my
experiences with Neurocam. The idea of nothing being what it seemed had certainly been
central to my journey so far, but why? Why would someone go to all this trouble to teach
myself (and possibly others) about the ‘ultimate precariousness of perception’? If this was
indeed Neurocam’s ultimate objective, I found this baffling and more than a little patronising. If I
had wanted to explore these issues in the context of my everyday life, I would have embarked
on that particular journey already. I felt as if I was being forced into something and that
Neurocam had deceived me into signing up for it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">A few days later I received my first real Neurocam assignment:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam Assignment NCI-4351/01</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Critical Information Couriering – Phase 1 – Receipt.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) MISSION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The secure receipt of an object that contains an object of vital importance to Neurocam
International’s continued operations in the Asia-Pacific Quadrant.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(B) EXECUTION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Below are the procedural details for this assignment. Any deviation from the operational
protocol described will result in a requirement of disciplinary action against the operative.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">1. At precisely 3pm on (date withheld for confidentiality reasons), proceed to the corner of
Collins Street and Spencer Street where you will find a public phone box. If the phone box is
occupied wait until it is vacant.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">2. Approach the phone box and pretend that you are making a call. Discreetly reach under the
right hand side of the outer shell and locate a small card that will be taped to the underside. This
will be the access card for a locker located at Southern Cross Station. You will have until
3.30pm to locate this locker.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">3. Making sure you are not being followed, approach the locker, insert the card and remove the
contents. Leave the area immediately once the contents are in your possession and deposit
them at a secure location of your choosing. You will then be contacted with further instructions.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Operatives are strictly forbidden from revealing any details pertaining to this assignment. Any
operative found doing so will suffer immediate expulsion from Neurocam.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam rejects accountability for any potentially detrimental consequences arising from the
operative’s assignment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) TIMELINE</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Please be aware that the contents of the object are of utmost importance to our organisation
and thus the most expedient possible completion of this assignment would be appreciated.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Regards</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Asia-Pacific Quadrant</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam International
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Far out! So Hastings wanted me to go to a phone box, surreptitiously collect a card hidden
underneath the phone, use the card to access a locker at a train station and make off with
whatever ‘object’ was in the locker. I must admit I was incredulous. Part of me was excited
about the thought of actually going through with this, while another part of me was extremely
cynical. My mind was racing as I considered some of the possibilities this bizarre new task
brought to the fore. For one thing, I now had a strange sense of being involved in some kind of
narrative revolving around Neurocam as an actual entity engaged in ‘operations’ within the
‘Asia-Pacific Quadrant’. Whether or not this story was real, I was now in a position to interact
directly with this narrative if I chose to carry out my assignment.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Thinking about the idea of interacting directly with a narrative construct brought to mind some of
the research I’d uncovered when looking into ARGs. </span><a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=iaY9cMnOCUoC&pg=PT137&dq=henry+jenkins+New+Media+as+Story,+Performance,+and+Game&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rQddUdHyJqiciAfO1YGABQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Henry Jenkins</a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, Professor of
Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts, explores the relationship between games and
stories, framing his ideas within ‘ludology’, a field of study focused primarily on games and
game play within contemporary culture. He claims that:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Many games do have narrative aspirations. Minimally, they want to tap the emotional
residue of previous narrative experiences. Often, they depend on our familiarity with the
roles and goals of genre entertainment to orient us to the action, and in many cases,
game designers want to create a series of narrative experiences for the player.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">Until now, I had discounted the idea of Neurocam being an ARG due to its lack of connection
with any kind of product, service, entertainment media or advertising strategy. What Jenkins
was saying made me re-evaluate this position in light of recent events. If game designers are
wanting to create a series of narrative experiences for the player and are using a combination of
online and offline environments, then it was conceivable that Neurocam may be some new form
of ARG which relied on a more subtle form of interaction with its participants. Certainly my own
familiarity with film and television led to a particular interpretation of my latest assignment; an
interpretation based around thrillers about secret agents, nefarious underground activities and </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">paranoia. If my experience of this genre was steering me towards the action, I wondered what
form the action would take. I had to remind myself that spy thrillers were works of fiction and I
was just an ordinary person encountering some very weird shit. I hoped that these unusual
events were in fact connected with some prototype for a new type of game. If this was the case
it would give me a framework to better understand it. As Jenkins puts it, “Game designers don't
simply tell stories; they design worlds and sculpt spaces.” </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 6pt; vertical-align: 5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Hopefully I was entering a
constructed world.</span></div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">In the context of his discussion about the relationship of games and narrative, Jenkins quotes
game designer <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/ernest-adams/3040-33011/" target="_blank">Ernest Adams</a> who makes a good point about the process of storytelling:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">In its richest form, storytelling -- narrative -- means the reader's surrender to the author.
The author takes the reader by the hand and leads him into the world of his
imagination.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">If I was part of an experience authored by someone else, to what extent was I prepared to
surrender myself to someone else’s imagination? This idea was all well and good in the context
of reading a good book on the sofa, but in this new context of ARGs, it seemed like a huge leap
of faith. In a situation where the game was widely known as being produced by a reputable
production company it was about as risky as watching TV, but in a situation where the authors
of the experience were unknown, it could be seen as a foolish risk. At the same time, I agreed
with Jenkins’ point that the best experiences of storytelling do involve suspending rational
disbelief and giving oneself over completely to the imagination of the author. If I was to continue
with this experience, I had to trust that Neurocam’s creators had good intentions in mind; that
they were doing this for the benefit of an audience. Giving myself over to their plan required a
significant degree of commitment, and usually we only commit to things when we have a clear
understanding of exactly what they mean to us. In this case, the single most powerful motivating
factor was still the mystery of it all, and I found it interesting that this related beautifully to one of
the central narrative devices of the thriller genre.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Another concern I had about this assignment was Neurocam’s disclaimer in the ‘operational
security’ section of the brief that read, “Neurocam rejects accountability for any potentially
detrimental consequences arising from the operative’s assignment.” So they appeared to be
covering their own arses in terms of public liability. So if I did this thing I was on my own. I
wondered what would happen if I were run over by a tram and broke my leg while on the
assignment. Clearly Neurocam wouldn’t be paying for my medical bills and loss of income, but
then why should they? I was participating in whatever this was entirely of my own volition, if
anything happened to me it was ultimately my own fault. I thought of other ARGs and recalled
that none of them had disclaimers denouncing liability, but doubted that their insurance would
cover any incidents arising from participants engaging in real-world activities. But what did
Neurocam mean by ‘potentially detrimental consequences’? Were they trying to scare me? Was
this a test?
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Four days later I found myself lurking outside a phone box waiting for some junkie to finish
yelling rabidly into the phone and give me a chance to get what I needed. As the long minutes
wore on I became convinced that the junkie was in fact an actor working for Neurocam, trying to
subvert my assignment. As he continued his abusive ranting I became anxious that my deadline
was rapidly approaching. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh6-ccxPfxmqqeNb3LeTZg2Mw3aAREOcneuLGHUGQlEe3aqKL-rkQ9WVdVW4k7tzywf7y07HrFIoMlyv_mBXId9TIPueeaJ96KEH8PYBKlm7SfJGuoQ58So7YXxp3OaoEXhzwD27p6vRc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.23.37+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh6-ccxPfxmqqeNb3LeTZg2Mw3aAREOcneuLGHUGQlEe3aqKL-rkQ9WVdVW4k7tzywf7y07HrFIoMlyv_mBXId9TIPueeaJ96KEH8PYBKlm7SfJGuoQ58So7YXxp3OaoEXhzwD27p6vRc/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.23.37+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">My window of opportunity apparently closed at 3.30pm and I still had
to walk to the train station and find the locker in less than twenty minutes. At 3.15pm the junkie
in the phone box swore loudly, smashed the receiver against the wall of the booth and hurriedly
shuffled off down the street. Darting for the booth I hastily made the pretence of making a phone
call with one hand, while groping around under the unit for the card. After feeling around several
solid lumps of what felt like old chewing gum, I located a thin orange card, much the size of a
tram ticket. The card was attached using some sticky substance like blue-tack, and I was
careful to remove it without doing any damage. It appeared to contain a code for locker number
255 at Southern Cross Station. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvB5O_9iFmTvvq2F6APujuUl5pmJ38DVx3HAwWpqHZ5zrXZRrPq5Zk9dtDFcDHBpJLLM4hTiwZUOh0jJpFubk7pyE5u1-wUQyRcuOS5qTr3s88eVGR8guNB8CfhlaG_b0vdi4MiCX4y-VR/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.23.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvB5O_9iFmTvvq2F6APujuUl5pmJ38DVx3HAwWpqHZ5zrXZRrPq5Zk9dtDFcDHBpJLLM4hTiwZUOh0jJpFubk7pyE5u1-wUQyRcuOS5qTr3s88eVGR8guNB8CfhlaG_b0vdi4MiCX4y-VR/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.23.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Sprinting across the road to the station I wished I had done some prior research into the
location of the lockers. With less than ten minutes to go I located one bank of lockers and </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">discovered that they were numbered 1–150. I frantically ran off in search of more lockers or
somewhere to get some information. To make matters worse, some of the station was
undergoing reconstruction so I was diverted through large plywood tunnels. Running madly all
around the station dodging angry commuters I finally located another set of lockers at the far
end. Thanks Neurocam. With three minutes to spare I found locker 255 and quickly inserted the
code. A message on the LCD screen gave me the option of unlocking the door or extending the
time. The urgency of the situation and some innate desire to successfully complete what I had
begun inhibited any rational thought at this point. Hastily unlocking the door I reached in to grab
whatever object was inside. The object turned out to be a very expensive-looking aluminium
briefcase.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpioHJ9C1YXHcOYTdnmeVZBMvlsZ4zuvNXaWetnKLQ_XetP2tCf1xymJbSRt8g9eXJs2Augcb-G-5KaqVZ5Cvo7WwGD5iSTaEtLskCkCcy9jlnCgIizFVkVXVeDjYB6sdxF-tHEvaOyhz9/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.26.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpioHJ9C1YXHcOYTdnmeVZBMvlsZ4zuvNXaWetnKLQ_XetP2tCf1xymJbSRt8g9eXJs2Augcb-G-5KaqVZ5Cvo7WwGD5iSTaEtLskCkCcy9jlnCgIizFVkVXVeDjYB6sdxF-tHEvaOyhz9/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.26.28+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The briefcase had a combination lock and seemed to contain something weighing a couple of
kilos inside. It didn’t rattle so the contents must have been well secured. For an extremely
paranoid instant I thought of the possibility that this situation may not have anything to do with
new types of ARGs and that I might be just be some poor shmo tricked into smuggling a
briefcase full of cocaine out of a train station. I could just imagine trying to explain my Neurocam
involvement to the drug squad. As I stood there staring dumbly at the briefcase in my hand I
noticed someone watching me from a departure platform about twenty meters away. A tallish
man in his mid-thirties wearing a well-cut dark suit was standing on the platform staring directly
at me. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">For some reason, possibly due to my paranoia about having in my possession an item
containing potentially dubious contents, the man staring at me completely unnerved me. I
hurried out of the station, frequently glancing behind me to see if I was being followed. At this
point I must admit that I really was starting to feel like a character in a movie. Whatever this
was, I had been subtly manipulated into a situation where I was now complicit in a real life
scenario with real consequences. One again, I found myself having to blindly trust Neurocam’s
intentions as I carried out exactly what they had asked of me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Once back in the safety of my apartment, I studied the briefcase in more detail. It had three
combination wheels, each numbering one to nine. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvw3aw9U4AeNb9mKgbu-Qt0yJIKudKJmFukWHE45TtAgkAbrs8fc8YO9WqSWP1xCjH3QLeTzwa_KyZGTTW3LQs-cK6j1hhTc4woCH_eCsSa9hyLW5IqJej6DlxdYCIipyYh2tZaZD3TZP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.27.27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvw3aw9U4AeNb9mKgbu-Qt0yJIKudKJmFukWHE45TtAgkAbrs8fc8YO9WqSWP1xCjH3QLeTzwa_KyZGTTW3LQs-cK6j1hhTc4woCH_eCsSa9hyLW5IqJej6DlxdYCIipyYh2tZaZD3TZP/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.27.27+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I googled combination locks and found a
page which claimed that with the three wheel style locks there were actually only 999 possible </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">combinations, one of which would be correct. I thought about how long it would take to wind the
wheels around in 999 configurations and started to test it out. Progress would be tedious as it
would require ticking off each combination on a bit of paper—this would take quite a while.
Giving up on this plan, I inspected the casing and thought about levering it open. It was
possible, but would undoubtedly damage the briefcase beyond repair. But what was I doing?
Neurocam had not asked me to open it, they had simply asked me to retrieve it from the station,
keep it safe and await further instructions. I was in two minds; if this was some kind of game
where I was part of a narrative experience, was I supposed to disobey my instructions and open
the case anyway? Were the contents a clue for the next part of my story? Was this a test to see
whether or not I played by their rules? At a loss for how to proceed I put the briefcase back on
the table and did some more research on ARGs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">One of the first ARGs to emerge on a massive scale was <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(game)" target="_blank">The Beast</a></i> which was created by a
team at Microsoft to promote Steven Spielberg’s film <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212720/" target="_blank">AI</a></i> back in 2001. Human Rights and
Internet Specialist <a href="http://www.gamesforchange.org/bio/barry-joseph/" target="_blank">Barry Joseph</a> writes about his experiences while playing <i>The Beast</i> and
reports some alarming findings:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Last week, waking in a dreamy haze, I refused to answer a 4 a.m. series of phone calls.
Afterwards, unable to sleep, my thoughts revolved around the absurd possibility which
entered both my mind and that of my fiance beside me: "Was that the game?" The game
has become an entity in my life, an entity who sends me emails, who hacks web sites,
who phones my loved ones. My best friend received a call at work, on his cell phone, as
he was preparing to head home for the day. After addressing him by name, the
computer voice warned: "They found out about Jeanine! Get out of the building... fast!”
Perhaps "game" is misleading. Clearly, it must be considered a promotion, as it's
designed to advertise the upcoming Spielberg film about artificial intelligence. But for a
generation brought up on role playing games and computer adventures, the line
between a game and a story has been blurred beyond recognition and, in the case of
this one, its telling is beyond anything previously encountered.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">I wasn’t entirely sure that I believed Joseph’s account as it could have been just hype, but
apparently he had an experience where he </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic;">knew </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">that he was playing a game, but still found
himself in a position where reality and fiction became confused. He attributed this largely to the
method of storytelling the game used; the way it encroached upon his daily life and people
around him. I considered the fact that this was one of the first ARGs of its kind and thought that </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">back in 2001 it really would have been an entirely new experience for participants, one that had
the ability to ride the line between fabrication and fact. But I kept coming back to the same thing.
It </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic;">was </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">a game. If Joseph knew that he was playing a new type of game with some unpredictable
elements, how could he possibly become confused about what was real?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I thought of a sinister proposition: Neurocam was doing exactly the same thing as <i>The Beast</i>,
but </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">not </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">telling anyone that it was a game. The fact that <i>The Beast</i> was promoting <i>AI</i> had been
withheld from the public until the game’s conclusion (a common device used in advertising these
days), so why couldn’t a similar ARG withhold the very fact that it was actually a game? Perhaps
the latest thing in ARGs was to make them more immersive by not defining or contextualising
them in </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">any </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">way, and unleashing them on an unsuspecting public. My mind boggled at the
ethical implications of this, but I was reminded that if production companies can get away with
creating participatory experiences like <i><a href="http://www.bigbrother.com.au/" target="_blank">Big Brother</a></i>, then anything’s possible. But what if I didn’t
want to play? I guess I was the only one forcing myself to do this.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Joseph also talks about the use of the Internet in these kinds of games and how it plays a key
role in identity by stating "These communication tools not only enhance who we are, but they
may also define who we are as well, shaping us into something new."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">The experience I was having was facilitated largely through the Internet, and I suppose that it
could have been said that my ‘story’ and my ‘role’ was being constructed via an anonymous
series of email addresses. The key elements of my experience were possibly fabricated and
written into a participatory narrative, which was slowly being fed to me in the form of emails from
Charles Hastings, Head of the Operations Division at Neurocam International. But was this
defining or shaping who I was? Certainly it had an impact on my life right now, but I wasn’t sure
that a few emails were potent enough to change the way I saw things. In a sense the Internet
does play an important role in identity in an interactive game context as it allows us the freedom
to reinvent ourselves. I had already chosen an ‘operative alias’ and was able to interact with
Neurocam in whatever way I chose. The fact that I had so far chosen to play by their rules and </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">simply follow their instructions did not mean that I couldn’t adopt some new strategy where I
began to fabricate elements of my own character. Maybe this was what Neurocam wanted, for
me to play them at their own game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">So many online games these days were concerned with creating a space for interaction where
participants were able to shape themselves into some kind of fantasy character, which could be
seen as what Joseph dubs an ‘enhancement’. <i><a href="http://thesims.com/en_US/home" target="_blank">The Sims</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">and <i><a href="http://secondlife.com/" target="_blank">Second Life </a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6.000000pt; vertical-align: 5.000000pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">both explore the
theme of virtual worlds where one can create a character and interact in a virtual space with
other players. Having indulged in <i>Second Life</i> I had observed a less-than intellectually
stimulating experience where horny teenage guys who were trying to chat up girls mostly
populated this wonderfully adaptable virtual world where we could do anything. The novelty of
being able to grow a tail, fly or walk underwater without drowning wore off rather quickly after
witnessing how other participants spent (or wasted) their time in the game. It seemed that giving
too much control over to the masses to write their own scripts led to exposing the inevitable
flaws (and lack of creativity) within the human condition. Taking on the idea of Neurocam being
interactive in a broader sense where I may have had some power and control, I decided to send
Mr Hastings an email asking him </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">what </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam was. I wondered why I hadn’t thought to ask
this before.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The next day I got a reply from Hastings:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Dear Operative (name withheld for security reasons)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam is a process of unveiling. Understanding is achieved through experience. Operatives
are invited to participate in assignments designed to facilitate this process. Neurocam is not a
marketing ploy, nor does it have any political or religious affiliations. Beyond this, the onus is on
the operative to either achieve understanding or to pursue whatever investigative trajectories </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">they deem appropriate. Be warned, however, that the latter invariably leads to mystification and
frustration.</span></div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Somehow this was not the response I had hoped for. I had expected something playful and
interactive, but Hastings was basically warning me off trying to find out too much about them.
So it was a process of unveiling. Unveiling of what? This was bordering on mystical and had to
be a joke. Apparently the experiences I would have while carrying out my assignments would
teach me something about the true nature of Neurocam. What did this actually mean? I wanted
to be entertained; to be part of some new game where I could make up my own rules, not be
patronised by some unknown person hiding safely behind their computer. I had to concede that
my immediate response to Hastings’ terse email was probably the result of my exposure to
entertainment genres where rewards were immediate and readily accessible. Going back to
Joseph’s experiences of </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The Beast</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, it seemed obvious that these new types of games
expected far more input from their players than the previous crop of interactive virtual world
porn. In my case, it was clear that Neurocam wanted me to play by their rules every step of the
way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">One week later I received another email from Hastings about the briefcase that lay unopened
on my coffee table: </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam Assignment NCI-4351/02</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Critical Information Couriering – Phase 2 – Delivery.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) MISSION</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The secure delivery of a briefcase that contains an object of vital importance to Neurocam
International’s continued operations in the Asia-Pacific Quadrant.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(B) EXECUTION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Below are the procedural details for this assignment. Any deviation from the operational
protocol described will result in a requirement of disciplinary action against the operative.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. You are required to contact operative (name withheld for security reasons) via the following
e-mail address (email address withheld for security reasons).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. Arrange a mutually convenient place and time for transfer of the briefcase you have in your
possession. During your correspondence DO NOT reveal the exact nature of the briefcase. At
all times refer to the briefcase as ‘a parcel’.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. Upon delivery of the briefcase, you are required to obtain evidence of the transfer. This
evidence must be provided in at least one of the following forms—photographic, audio-visual,
audio, retinal scan, bio-metric authentication, fingerprint imprint or any alternate form of
definitive evidence you are able to procure.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4. Submit a report of the transfer to the Operations Division (operations@neurocam.com) with
transfer evidence attached.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In the interest of assuring the safety of operative (name withheld for security reasons) it is
essential that all operatives BCC all correspondence to Neurocam International’s Operations
Division (operations@neurocam.com). If this does not occur, Neurocam rejects accountability
for any potentially detrimental consequences arising from the operative’s encounter. In addition,
although the final location of the meeting is entirely at the discretion of the operatives,
Neurocam International strongly recommends that the exchange take place in a heavily
populated area, so as to further ensure the safety of both operatives.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) TIMELINE</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam International respects the potential difficulty of arranging a mutually convenient
meeting time and so does not place a strict deadline upon this assignment. Please be aware, </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">however, that the contents of the parcel are of utmost importance to our organisation and thus
the most expedient possible completion of this assignment would be appreciated.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Regards
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division
Asia-Pacific Quadrant </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam International </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">operations@neurocam.com</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">This was most interesting. I was about to meet another Neurocam operative and hand over the
briefcase to them. I wondered if this person would be an unsuspecting participant like myself, or
someone behind the curtain who knew everything and would be secretly observing or testing
me. Would the exchange be covertly recorded and played on some website? The possibilities
were vast, but I was excited. I felt like the game was being taken to yet another level.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Hastings asking me for evidence that the exchange had taken place intrigued me. This added
what I thought was a very game-like element to the narrative. It was possible that my
documentation of the exchange would end up on some central website along with material
handed in from many other participants. I had noticed that most ARGs had central web hubs that
were often updated in real time as participants completed various tasks. Neurocam’s main site
was obviously not used for this purpose, but they could have had another site under a different
name somewhere else on the net. I thought that this possibility would add another interesting
layer to the game—a situation where the audience were divided into two camps—unsuspecting
participants like myself and observers who could log on to the website and see everything as it
unfolded. Perhaps this was to be my future unveiling—access to the bigger picture where I got to
witness new rats in the maze.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I sent off an email to my Neurocam contact informing them that I had a ‘parcel for them and that
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">we had to arrange a time to meet. While I was waiting for a response I came across an
interesting new ARG that everyone (online) was talking about called <i><a href="http://sf0.org/" target="_blank">SFZero</a></i>.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>SFZero </i>was the creation of Ian Kizu-Blair, Sam Lavigne and Sean Mahan of Playtime, a
nonprofit organisation dedicated to producing free immersive art games that use new
technologies in interesting ways. <i>SFZero</i> initially appeared to contain all of the hallmarks of a
typical ARG, but was labeled as a ‘collaborative production game’. On closer inspection, <i>SFZero</i> had some rather subversive features that set it apart from other ARGs. Rather than
superimposing an alternate game world narrative over the real world, it asked players to create
their own tasks, which were then performed by other players in the real world. In an online
review of the game, creative director <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/prophecyboy" target="_blank">Adam Simon</a> of gaming start-up <i><a href="http://www.socialbomb.com/" target="_blank">Socialbomb</a></i> writes that
“SFZero asks players to recontextualise the real world as a game world, where anything and
everything may be pulled into play at will.”</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 6pt; vertical-align: 5pt;">2</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">After all of my research so far this seemed to be the
best lead as to how Neurocam operated. If Neurocam was a type of game, then it was very
similar to <i>SFZero</i> in that it seemed to bring in elements from the real world as a kind of blurring
of the boundaries between reality and the game world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I thought about the implications of a situation where players were able to treat the real world as a
game world and impose their own rules. Surely this would result in chaos? Possibly not if the
game’s designers had set up the parameters of engagement in such a way that participants
adhered intelligently to central thematic elements. Looking at the game’s website, it was obvious
that the tasks created by players attempted to focus on creativity, exploration, community, and
performance. I found the results posted by the players a little disappointing however, with such
entries as deporting non-native plants, tipping in a non-tipping industry, putting flags on the top
of buildings, staging impromptu drive-in movies, fabricating urban legends and kidnapping other
players for three days.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">A term I had come across often in researching these types of games was ‘the magic circle’. This </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">apparently referred to the establishing of boundaries between the game world and the real world
in order to define the parameters of engagement. Simon Adam observes that:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><i>SFZero</i> takes the concept of a flexible magic circle one step further by placing control
over its boundaries in the hands of each individual player. It properly describes itself as
an “interface” - a different way to view and interact with the world - one controlled by the
player, not by the architects of the game. This represents a profound shift from the
traditional ARG framework, in which the game designers decide what real-world
elements are part of the game, to one in which the players decide which real-world
elements will be drawn inside.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">If games like </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">SFZero</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> were now incorporating real world elements at the whim of the actual
players, did this suggest a new precedent in which participants’ experiences could be altered by
other people’s actions in a more fluid way? From the examples I had seen of </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">SFZero’s</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> ‘assignments’, real world interactions had been limited to largely mundane and innocuous
material, but this did not mean that far more devious and complex tasks couldn’t be carried out. I
thought of the kidnapping assignment and wondered if the recipients of this experience knew
that they were being gamed by competing players. On reflection, it was entirely within the realms
of possibility that my Neurocam experiences were the result of some enthusiastic </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">SFZero</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">-like
gamer trying to score points for their creativity.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Later that day I received a reply from my ‘contact’, who was keen to make the exchange. We
agreed to meet at Federation Square at 1pm the next day. This seemed to satisfy Neurocam’s
criteria of a safe and well-populated area. As we both described our appearance and what we
would be wearing, I thought to myself that this felt like going on a blind date.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The next day I felt more than a little conspicuous walking through the busy lunch crowds with a
shiny silver briefcase about to meet a complete stranger. When I got to the arranged spot, there
was nobody resembling an operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons) around. I waited
self-consciously for several minutes until a bespectacled woman in her mid-forties wearing
nondescript corporate attire came confidently striding through the crowd.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVeVoOi20KKe7JV2iPJxLVmx3-MXwT3djoMo4gVIXaMPNHb9l-_ndyeMEQmgb1mQuwir1Ux2aX6jUSW-VLxcqyqtadtCSdimYZ3jO1go2rD67zOJR6Z6IMgehK5ioPfHZJeEiWGz0htRb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.28.23+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVeVoOi20KKe7JV2iPJxLVmx3-MXwT3djoMo4gVIXaMPNHb9l-_ndyeMEQmgb1mQuwir1Ux2aX6jUSW-VLxcqyqtadtCSdimYZ3jO1go2rD67zOJR6Z6IMgehK5ioPfHZJeEiWGz0htRb/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.28.23+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">“Are you operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons)?” she asked.</span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">“Yes, are you operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons)?” I returned feeling very
foolish indeed.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">She nodded and I handed her the briefcase mumbling, “This is for you</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">...</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">” </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">She took the briefcase and gave it a cursory inspection. What had Neurocam told her to look
for? Was she checking to see if I had attempted to force it open?</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“Um, do you mind if I take a photo?” I asked, pulling out my phone.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“Sure,” she replied. She was expecting this.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I took a snap of operative (name withheld for confidentiality reasons), a short woman in her mid-
forties wearing a navy blue business suit, holding the briefcase. She looked like she had just
stepped out of a corporate environment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">“Done?” She asked curtly, obviously anxious to leave.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“Yep. Um, thanks.” I stammered as she gave me a small nod and walked briskly off into the
crowd.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOUEuX1Tul7a-60furC7ntUdfAmLRC6iKNgoauO16Dkk9MPXyrnUo2dGVNdy8HoiugGAvuvBF7R95T9TAs_hgiHGt4t6Nzc5oxkavJ9Wc5L5n9WbZPHhpZVznk1dtEiOCDeZjb1GB-YFu/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.29.25+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOUEuX1Tul7a-60furC7ntUdfAmLRC6iKNgoauO16Dkk9MPXyrnUo2dGVNdy8HoiugGAvuvBF7R95T9TAs_hgiHGt4t6Nzc5oxkavJ9Wc5L5n9WbZPHhpZVznk1dtEiOCDeZjb1GB-YFu/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-04-04+at+4.29.25+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">As I walked back to the tram stop it occurred to me that I still had no idea what was inside the
briefcase. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2174477708959220934.post-89081574631882294002013-03-20T17:27:00.000-07:002013-10-17T16:01:48.087-07:0001 Going Down the Rabbit Hole<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">It was a Thursday night and I was driving home along Alexandra Parade in North Fitzroy. When
I stopped for the lights at Smith Street, I noticed a large glowing object in the periphery of my
vision. I’m not usually one to pay much attention to billboards, but this was spectacular; a
massive, bright orange supersite emblazoned with the words “get out of your mind”. A website
was featured in much smaller text across the bottom: www.neurocam.com. The whole
affair was further accentuated with a bank of high-powered spotlights, creating the illusion that it
was hovering in space above the featureless, darkened building it was mounted on.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3hoRzchHUMH7Z5T79fMDoosr5pJMivf0yRx9lpSqH55Hqp_EyWqwQymBuDFPJRz1gk4dmmIePWXGVgVUduGlpUO5U34p9PIQcoG8kCAfpwAaKe-eyIq6bPoxl67HYC7-UDpuc6aFaSZj/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.12.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3hoRzchHUMH7Z5T79fMDoosr5pJMivf0yRx9lpSqH55Hqp_EyWqwQymBuDFPJRz1gk4dmmIePWXGVgVUduGlpUO5U34p9PIQcoG8kCAfpwAaKe-eyIq6bPoxl67HYC7-UDpuc6aFaSZj/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.12.45+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I was aware that ‘teaser campaigns’ were all the rage at the time and gone were the days of
didactic product peddling. “Get out of your mind” - what did it mean? In the several seconds I
was stationary at the lights my mind raced through a series of possibilities. Is it something to do
with yoga? A new sexual enhancement drug? New age meditation techniques? As the lights
turned green and I moved off, I almost dismissed what I had seen as just another banal attempt
by the advertising industry to create intrigue, but “neurocam.com”? That was something I had
never heard of before and it did pique my curiosity. It made me think of brain cameras and why
a company would choose a name, which so obviously conveyed something firmly entrenched
within the realms of science fiction. Unless of course it was something to do with medical
imaging technology, but in that case why would they use such an odd slogan? And besides, you
don’t often see billboards advertising such equipment as MRI scanners and X-ray machines;
billboards almost always advertise products or services for the general public. Several minutes
later a song I liked came on the radio and I put Neurocam out of my mind.</span></div>
</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">A week or so later I was at a party and happened to overhear a conversation that immediately
sparked my interest. A forty-something balding man and a young woman with multiple facial </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">piercings were talking about something called Neurocam. As I moved in closer to glean the gist
of the conversation, I heard the man say something about a website and ‘signing up’. I was
about to attempt to join the conversation when someone I knew grabbed my arm and started
drunkenly talking at me.</span></div>
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">For some reason the combination of seeing the billboard and overhearing the conversation at
the party made me want to investigate further. As soon as I got home I googled “get out of your
mind”. Nothing much turned up there, it seems that it was a slogan used commonly for all kinds
of things, ranging from books on healthy eating to all manner of new age philosophies. Next I
tried “neurocam.com”. Success. The website was very sparse, providing a disappointing lack of
information about what in fact Neurocam </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">is. </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Intriguingly, on the ‘disclaimer’ page, there was
featured a long list of all the things Neurocam is </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">not:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a pyramid marketing scam </span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a product</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a service</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not an Internet dating website </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not a new technology </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not a marketing campaign </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not trying to sell anything </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not trying to buy anything </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not a cult religion
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not a scientific discovery </span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a drug</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a new species</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a form of artificial intelligence
neurocam is not a game</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a social experiment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a movie or television series</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not pornography</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not anything to do with neurology</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a new type of camera</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a study</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a psychology experiment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a terrorist training organisation </span></div>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not a corporate team-building exercise </span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a security company</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not anything to do with genetic engineering </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">neurocam is not anything to do with genetic manipulation </span></div>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a rare disease</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not viral marketing</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not anything to do with spiral dynamics </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a literary awareness program</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a Rosicrucian order</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not influenced by the Thelema</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not an initiation process</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not an experiment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not confined to cyberspace</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a new age philosophy</span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not the question</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not the answer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">neurocam is not a new fashion trend</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not an aphrodisiac</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a self-help workshop</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">neurocam is not a new branch of cognitive science</span></div>
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">And so on</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">This was followed by an enigmatic quote from Neurocam International’s CEO, Ms Bridget
Fischer:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">"Some of the most rewarding experiences we have come about through random
circumstances of which we have no real understanding. It is sometimes important to
commit to something we know very little about if the act of commitment in itself
becomes part of an experience."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">Was this some kind of joke? I’d never seen anything like it and for some reason I felt instantly
suspicious. The whole idea of ‘committing to something I knew very little about' seemed absurd
to me, and reminded me vaguely of David Fincher’s film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/" target="_blank"><i>Fight Club</i></a>,</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 8px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">where the main character
Tyler Durden gathers together a secret army to participate in <i>Project Mayhem</i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">, an organised
assault on mainstream consumer society. And ‘random circumstances’? What was that all
about? Were these people insinuating that the act of seeing the billboard, overhearing the
conversation about Neurocam and ending up on their site had some kind of hidden meaning to
it? Who was this Bridget Fischer and was Neurocam really an international organisation?
So many questions and so few answers. The ‘experience’ thus far was not exactly rewarding.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">The only other content on the website was a contact page with a couple of Neurocam email
addresses on it and a registration page. The registration page was giving people the opportunity
to apply to join Neurocam by submitting some basic details:</span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">1. Your full name, date of birth and preferred operative name</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. Your preferred email address if different from the sender address </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">3. Your city and country of residence</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">The phrase ‘preferred operative name’ was curious. So you could apply to become an
‘operative’ for an unknown organisation engaging in unknown activities. It seemed absurd on
one level, but absolutely intriguing on another. I just couldn’t contextualise this in any way,
shape or form; there was no precedent whatsoever. I wanted to think that it was some kind of
hoax or prank, but that was immediately ruled out because I knew enough about advertising to
know that supersite billboards cost about $15,000 apiece and people just don’t spend that kind
of money for kicks. Unless of course they have millions at their disposal, which is possible, but it
hasn’t happened yet. Or has it? During 2003, Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher produced a
television series called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361227/" target="_blank"><i>Punk’d</i></a><span id="goog_1296451743"></span><span id="goog_1296451744"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>, </span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">which basically consisted of him playing elaborate practical
jokes on unsuspecting celebrities.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">There was also the fact that Neurocam claimed to be an international organisation, so perhaps
they had billboards all over the world costing millions of dollars. I was perplexed, something just
didn’t add up and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I was incredibly tempted to sign up just to see
what would happen, but held back as I was worried about my email address being inundated
with spam, or being tricked into some tedious equivalent of the Nigerian <a href="http://www.419eater.com/" target="_blank"><i>419 fraud scam</i></a></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">. The
Internet was rife with all manner of dubious activities, and even though I thought Neurocam was
something altogether different, I wasn’t about to leap in headfirst.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">The following day at work I mentioned the enigma of Neurocam to a colleague and she hadn’t
heard of it. When I mentioned that the frustrating thing about it was that the only way to find out
more was to sign up, she gave me one of those looks that cartoon artists often illustrate with a
light bulb above the head: “Perhaps it’s an ARG, it’s got to be an ARG, there’s no other
explanation,” she said. Having no idea what she was talking about, I requested more </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">information. To those with a limited knowledge of cyberspace like myself, apparently an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game" target="_blank">ARG</a> or
Alternate Reality Game is a kind of online game, which revolves around a story. This seemed to
make sense, so I jumped on my computer and did some more research. According to game
designer and researcher <a href="http://janemcgonigal.com/" target="_blank">Jane McGonigal</a>:</span></div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">"An ARG is an interactive drama played out online and in real world spaces, taking place
over several weeks or months, in which dozens, hundreds, thousands of players come
together online, form collaborative social networks, and work together to solve a
mystery or problem that would be absolutely impossible to solve alone."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">This information was all very interesting to a point, but I needed to know what purpose ARGs
served to figure out if Neurocam was one or not. Further digging revealed that most ARGs are
free to play as they are funded through their promotional relationships with actual products. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(game)" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>The Beast</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> was a promotion for Spielberg’s 2001 film </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212720/" target="_blank">AI</a>, <a href="http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/10/65365?currentPage=all" target="_blank">I Love Bees</a></i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> promoted Xbox video
game </span><a href="https://ebgames.com.au/pc-139803-Halo-2-PC" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>Halo 2</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><a href="http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Iris" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>Iris</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> promoted the release of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_3" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>Halo 3</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_Initiative" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>The Dharma Initiative</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> promoted the
television show </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411008/" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><i>Lost</i></a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">McGonigal uses "I Love Bees” as an example to discuss the positive aspects of a concept
called ‘collective intelligence’:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">"The term ‘collective intelligence’, or CI for short, was originally coined by French
philosopher </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_L%C3%A9vy" style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Pierre Levy</a><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> in 1994 to describe the impact of Internet technologies on the
cultural production and consumption of knowledge. Levy argued that because the Internet
facilitates a rapid, open and global exchange of data and ideas, over time the network
should “mobilize and coordinate the intelligence, experience, skills, wisdom, and
imagination of humanity” in new and unexpected ways."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I wasn’t sure that a bunch of people playing online games constituted a radical new way of
people working together, but it was an intriguing idea nonetheless.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">Not everyone was as excited about the possibilities offered by the Internet and ARGs as </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">McGonigal and Levy. I found a great article by journalist <a href="http://io9.com/5689905/annalee-newitz-bio" target="_blank">Annalee Newitz</a> who claimed that
ARGs are merely a surreptitious form of advertising saying “I feel like the ARG is just a fancier
term for guerrilla marketing. Like I said, I don't mind being advertised to, as long as you call an
ad an ad—not an ARG.” </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 6pt; vertical-align: 5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">So perhaps it was all just a new way of peddling product on the
Internet.</span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I found myself vaguely disappointed by this, but was still not entirely convinced that Neurocam
was in fact an ARG. It seemed that all ARGs made no attempt to disguise the fact that they
were interactive online games, whereas Neurocam was simply a total mystery. And if it was
advertising a product, service or entertainment form, what on earth was it?
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I had to admit to myself that my curiosity was getting the better of me and I knew that there was
only one way forward. That night I set up a brand new email address under a false name and
submitted Neurocam’s application form. Now I would get some answers.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">One week later I received the following response from someone named Maxwell Knight:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Dear Applicant</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you for expressing interest in Neurocam.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Your application has been forwarded to a designated officer within the Human Resources
Security Division so that our organisation can further evaluate your suitability for recruitment.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">In the interest of facilitating an expedient assessment, the Human Resources Security Division
is currently implementing a series of background checks. We apologise in advance for the
potentially intrusive nature of these checks and assure you that Neurocam International only
undertakes this course of action in the interest of protecting our proprietary operational </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">procedures. Any information gathered from this historical evaluation will be treated as strictly
confidential.</span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">If your application is successful you will be contacted by Mr. Charles Hastings, Head of
Neurocam International’s Operations Division. Mr. Hastings will further inform you about the
nature of the tasks Neurocam requires you to complete.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">An unsuccessful application will result in the cessation of all further correspondence between
Neurocam and yourself.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam appreciates that, in 83.6% of instances, new applicants experience a desire to
enquire about many issues which may further enlighten them as to the true nature of
Neurocam. Due to the need to maintain a high level of operational security, Neurocam is
unable to provide much of the information desired by entry level participants.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you once again for expressing interest in Neurocam. I hope that your application will be
successful and that I will soon have the pleasure of working with you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Regards</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Maxwell Knight</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Human Resources Security Division </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam International </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">maxwell.knight@neurocam.com</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Suitability for recruitment? Background checks? This was starting to seriously freak me out.
Suitability for recruitment for what? If I was to become an ‘operative’ for Neurocam, there was
no information whatsoever detailing what my responsibilities would be. And implementing a </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">series of ‘potentially intrusive’ background checks on me implied that they knew who I was and
where I lived. I knew such information could be obtained using IP trace software, but that
seemed to be an extreme length to go to. Only the police and certain government departments
would have files on your average citizen, which made me wonder if this was something far
beyond what I had initially thought. But I kept going back to the idea of it being an elaborate
prank, and rejecting it because it just didn’t fit. But if it wasn’t a prank and it wasn’t an ARG, then
what was it?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I was also puzzled by the wording of the email, in particular the mention of a “Human Resources
and Security Division”. This kind of terminology was firmly entrenched within corporate speak,
which added further confusion as to why an organisation of such magnitude would exist without
any traces beyond billboards and a website. I was reminded of a film called <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119174/" target="_blank">The Game</a> </i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">directed by David Fincher, which is about a wealthy San Francisco banker who is given a reality
altering present from his brother, which results in a series of twists and turns in his life. The film
features a shady underground organisation called <i>Consumer Recreation Services </i>who
facilitate this experience using a massive cast of actors and the co-operation of his family,
friends and colleagues in order to give him the experience of a lifetime.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam certainly had similarities to CRS in terms of secrecy, but now I was completely
paranoid. Perhaps this was all an elaborate show staged entirely for my benefit? Did I know
anyone wealthy enough to stage such an extensive prank? Did I know anyone who would have
enough imagination to even think of it? Once again I was at the mercy of Neurocam, waiting for
the results of my application.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">During the week that followed, I kept thinking about the fact that I might be being followed or
watched by agents of Neurocam. It was a strange experience, which caused me to perceive my
actions from a different perspective, as if I was looking down on myself from above.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Exactly one week later I finally got my much-anticipated response from Neurocam regarding my
application. It was entirely not what I expected:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
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</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Dear Applicant
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">To continue with Neurocam’s application process, ALL APPLICANTS are required to complete
the following perception-based assessment. An assessment of the applicant’s suitability for
operational deployment will be made following the fulfillment of these non-negotiable pre-
requisites.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">APPLICANT PERCEPTION ASSESSMENT NCI-2001/01
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) MISSION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Assess applicant’s perception abilities.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(B) EXECUTION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">1. Write a detailed account of everything that happens between 4pm and 9pm on (date witheld for security reasons) Pay particular attention to any occurrence, which may be deemed ‘out of the
ordinary’. Include in your account two images that represent the best and worst things that
happen on </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> (date witheld for security reasons)</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">2. Submit this report via email to operations@neurocam.com by close of business </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> (date witheld for security reasons)</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) OPERATIONAL SECURITY
Not Applicable.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) GUIDELINES.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">As with all Neurocam assignments, you will be assessed on the manner in which you complete
this assignment. Intelligence and creativity are traits highly valued by Neurocam and a
demonstration of both of these will expedite your further advancement within the organisation.
Your application and aptitude in this assignment will be the basis for consideration for
operational integration.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="column">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">ENDS APPLICANT PERCEPTION ASSESSMENT NCI-2001/01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Regards</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam International </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">operations@neurocam.com
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Okay, so now the shadowy organisation of unknown origins called Neurocam wanted me to
actually spend my time and energy doing something for them, to complete an application to
become part of something unknown. This was infuriating! I scanned the text once more looking
for clues. A “perception assessment” task which required me to observe and record events
transpiring on a particular day, which would allow them to assess my suitability for “operational
deployment”. Operational deployment? I already had a job, why would I want another. Would I
get paid? I thought about what kind of job would require highly honed perceptual capabilities,
intelligence and creativity. I noticed that this email was from Charles Hastings, who was the
head of the “Operations Division”, whatever that may be.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I considered the task at hand. Writing an account of events happening during the following
Monday between 4pm and 9pm was easy enough, but I was rather alarmed at the idea of “an
occurrence deemed out of the ordinary”. Assuming that Neurocam knew who I was and where I
lived and worked, did this mean that they were going to stage some kind of event for my
benefit? The idea seemed ludicrous, but then the whole thing was completely bizarre. I just
couldn’t understand why they would go to the trouble.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">I considered the idea that this had something to do with some kind of experimental theatre
project. I recalled a book I had read years ago by British Author <a href="http://www.fowlesbooks.com/" target="_blank">John Fowles</a>, called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magus_(novel)" target="_blank"><i>The </i></a></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magus_(novel)" target="_blank"><i>Magus</i></a></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. Fowles tells the story of a central character, Nicholas, who is unwittingly drawn into a
series of bizarre incidents which are staged by a mysterious stranger on an isolated Greek
island. Nicholas’ entire reality is eventually subverted by what is presumed to be an elaborate
work of theatre in which the relationship between director and audience is redefined and the
world itself becomes the stage. Was it possible that a theatre group were staging something
conceptually similar over forty years later? It was entirely probable that Neurocam was in fact a
large-scale work of theatre, which was indeed re-evaluating the traditional divisions between the
stage, actors and audience. I could be one of many people interacting in many different ways
with this production. I decided that this was my best working theory and resolved to follow
Neurocam’s instructions to the letter. After all, it was the only way to find out more about
whatever it was they were doing.</span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The following Monday at 4pm I armed myself with a notebook and a small digital camera. I
finished work at around five and was home by six. I made dinner and watched some TV. I didn’t
notice anything particularly ‘out of the ordinary’, but I thought that maybe I was looking too hard.
During the tram ride home I was hyper aware of everyone around me and it seemed that
several of them were staring at me. Or was I staring at them? When I got off the tram I kept
checking to see if anyone was following me. When at home I frequently looked out the windows
to see if anyone was watching me from a parked car outside. I waited for strange phone calls or
a knock at the door. Nothing happened. I paid extra attention to the TV, thinking that perhaps
they would try to get a message to me that way, but nothing stood out.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">At 9pm I started transcribing the incredibly dull events of the last five hours. I kept worrying that
I had failed the test and that Neurocam would reject me, which was totally irrational of course as
I didn’t even know exactly why I was doing this in the first place. I was honest in my account of
events that transpired, although I considered embellishing the facts to impress them with my
‘creativity’. I took a picture of the perfectly cooked steak I’d had for dinner and the resulting
mountain of dirty dishes to represent the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ things of my day. Not particularly
imaginative I know. I emailed the report off to Mr Hastings and felt torn between resentment for </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">being manipulated into the situation in the first place, and gratitude for examining a small slice
of my own life in more detail. I laughed at the idea of someone at Neurocam Headquarters
sitting down and reading such a boring diary. I wondered if they had thousands of people all
over the world doing exactly the same thing.</span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Over the next week I sporadically googled Neurocam to no avail. I found it incredible that a
supersite billboard linking to a website with presumably high traffic would generate no web
presence whatsoever. This further fuelled my paranoia that this was a unique experience set up
for my own benefit, which I knew was an absurd and highly improbable idea. I patiently waited
for the response to my perception assessment assignment. Finally, one week to the hour, things
took a turn for the even more bizarre when I received an email from Mr Hastings, who had
another task for me:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Dear Applicant</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">To conclude Neurocam’s application process ALL APPLICANTS are required to complete the
following assignment:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">ASSIGNMENT: NEUROCAM IDENTIFIER - COVERT DELIVERY NCI-3001/02</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(A) MISSION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The successful covert and secure collection of a standardised "Neurocam Identifier".</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(B) EXECUTION</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The secure transfer will be executed as follows. Deviation from operational protocol as outlined
will result in instant termination of your involvement with Neurocam.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. Travel to the secure transfer location (refer to map provided).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. At this location, carefully camouflaged, there is an electronic safe. Using the map provided,
locate that safe.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. Carefully remove the camouflage.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">5. Enter code 159A and open the safe.</span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">6. Take ONLY the package with your Operative ID written on it.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="page" title="Page 69">
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<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">7. Re-secure the safe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">8. Replace camouflage in such a way as to ensure that Neurocam's property remains unable to
be easily located by non-Neurocam personnel.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">9. Vacate the area.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">10. Once in a secure location, open the package.</span></div>
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(C) TIMELINE</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">This assignment must be successfully completed by </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;"> (date witheld for security reasons)</span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">(D) OPERATIONAL SECURITY</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Operations Division appreciates that attendance at a remote locale, based primarily on
correspondence and data gathered via telecommunications, is known to raise risk profile issues
with respect to standard urban environment factors.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">To address potential concerns of operational personnel in this instance, permission is granted to
invite a person of your choice to accompany you while executing the mission. Your judgment in
this case is being trusted—and, of course, judged. Should you elect to do so, choose a
companion that can be trusted not to disclose to any other party Neurocam's operational
protocol and proprietary industrial practices.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Please be aware that, for the purpose of additional security and quality control, you may be
monitored throughout the completion of this assignment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam International is aware that many operatives are tempted to publicly discuss and
relate their Neurocam experiences via online forums, web journals and the media. Operatives
are strictly not permitted to disclose the details of operational assignments under any
circumstances. Any operatives in breach of this protocol will be immediately terminated.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Regards</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Charles Hastings</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Head, Operations Division </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Asia-Pacific Quadrant </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neurocam International </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">operations@neurocam.com
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7PXmatZsDxR6VkAGEwyyonA1H1Jucql5ZcqZpCqwV1GK6RFpdlIFjvjoU0SGjwaxrEiLVjK_XDzJ27oXJDwxO6dsAkizXKYKXWGQ-s5QVV8V4WrEAFHe9q8vnDXCig0Neakue387t2IU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-21+at+11.12.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7PXmatZsDxR6VkAGEwyyonA1H1Jucql5ZcqZpCqwV1GK6RFpdlIFjvjoU0SGjwaxrEiLVjK_XDzJ27oXJDwxO6dsAkizXKYKXWGQ-s5QVV8V4WrEAFHe9q8vnDXCig0Neakue387t2IU/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-21+at+11.12.36+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This was now clearly escalating to another level. Neurocam wanted me to travel to a physical
location, uncover a hidden electronic safe for which I had the code, and retrieve a “Neurocam
Identifier”. The map provided indicated that the ‘safe’ was concealed at the base of the western-
most pillar of the large red installation beside the Tullamarine freeway in Flemington. I now felt
very suspicious. I considered television programs like </span><i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053489/" style="font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Candid Camera</a>, </i></span><span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10pt;">which lured people
into staged situations for the express purpose of catching them on camera doing something
embarrassing or entertaining. Was this any different? If I decided to make the trek out to
Flemington, what would be waiting for me? I was almost positive that it would not be a
concealed electronic safe containing a ‘package’ for me. This was highly unlikely and more than
a little bit sinister in a post 9/11 environment. Up until now I had always assumed that these
activities were above the law, but this assumption was only based on the fact that Neurocam
had enough legitimacy to have billboards and a website. I recalled one item on Neurocam’s
website disclaimer; “Neurocam is not a terrorist training organisation”. Were we to blindly accept </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">these statements as truth because Neurocam said they were true? Was Neurocam engaging in
illegal activities like terrorism? Was this concern a result of my exposure to the media’s endless
talk of terrorist threats, or was it an actual possibility? Terrorists would certainly have enough
money to erect billboards, but would they operate in such a blatant fashion?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">One of the many things brought up by my ‘assignment’ was a possible answer to the question of
Neurocam’s lack of public visibility. In the ‘Operational Security’ section of Mr Hastings’ email
there was a direct request for ‘operatives’ not to talk about their assignments under any
circumstances. It was conceivable that if there were many participants involved in whatever this
thing was, and if they all wanted to find out more like myself, they would not risk ‘immediate
termination’ by talking about their experiences. It was a unique idea, one that again reminded
me of Fincher’s film <i>Fight Club</i>—“The first rule of Fight Club is do not talk about Fight Club.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">But this was Neurocam, not </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Project Mayhem</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. Nonetheless, I was fascinated by the idea that
there might be a large number of people doing exactly the same as myself at this precise
moment in time. Who were they? There was no question of me not completing the assignment.
I’d come this far and I wasn’t about to throw in the towel and possibly never get any answers,
even if this was some ridiculous new reality TV incarnation of </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Candid Camera</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">. If this were the
case, at least I’d probably get some kind of prize as well as having a great story to tell. Two
days later I decided to go to the location alone. I considered taking a friend along for moral
support, but dreaded lengthy explanations about why I was doing this in the first place.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">At about 6pm on a balmy Tuesday evening I drove along Mount Alexander Road and parked at
a community centre opposite the car yard marked on the map. I skirted around the car yard,
down an embankment and under a bridge that took me to a large concrete expanse leading to
the red pillars. The scale of them at such close range was impressive and it took me some time
to walk all the way to the pillar at the far end. Apart from some kids on skateboards off in the
distance, there was no one around. I thought of Neurocam’s claim that I might be monitored on
this assignment and looked around for surveillance cameras. Nothing stood out.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MLevgM59EhRfincJKvyvHfKZBoEY1YKCZRlm586vECWsAEtZDmFPHaHlZKQB0Yz2nBJhmIhcaJyRovw8YKk0f6Tgd0a_ippJXZmMMoFmY_DEkT0LumEbYSWnUGLogQjIwOHNQcqIV3k5/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.00.27+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MLevgM59EhRfincJKvyvHfKZBoEY1YKCZRlm586vECWsAEtZDmFPHaHlZKQB0Yz2nBJhmIhcaJyRovw8YKk0f6Tgd0a_ippJXZmMMoFmY_DEkT0LumEbYSWnUGLogQjIwOHNQcqIV3k5/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.00.27+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Once near the base of the pillar I had to climb up through a garden area, which consisted of
large grass tussocks amongst wood-chips. At the base of the pillar there was no sign of an
electronic safe or a team of people with cameras hiding in the tussocks. I stood there for a while
feeling foolish, thinking that this might after all have been someone’s idea of a cruel joke. I
guess it was possible that pranksters could have money to waste on such activities.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">I was just about to leave when I noticed that the wood-chips at the base of the pillar seemed
slightly wrong in some way. I knelt down and dug around a bit, finding the edge of what felt like
an old bit of carpet. I tugged at it and lifted a squarish section of matting about fifty centimetres
wide. When I pulled it right back, spilling the wood-chips everywhere, I saw an electronic safe
set in a slab of concrete beneath! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPFeIGwtSkrGYnWkAngAI_UO1t_WGX3-qzMFTmcyvAv_Y2GXZhX9yAyJvXzLcTs98yxA8zmxxa2jygJaz6e43Bg5RguBYeTJS1gD1oM52zMX7uK_8k6Ixt61XUte9LzZ2zy080H1seq0_/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+10.53.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPFeIGwtSkrGYnWkAngAI_UO1t_WGX3-qzMFTmcyvAv_Y2GXZhX9yAyJvXzLcTs98yxA8zmxxa2jygJaz6e43Bg5RguBYeTJS1gD1oM52zMX7uK_8k6Ixt61XUte9LzZ2zy080H1seq0_/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+10.53.05+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">It was the most surreal thing - so unlikely - but there it was.
Still expecting the </span><i style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Candid Camera</i><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;"> crew to come running out, I entered the code I had been
given into the high-tech looking digital touchpad. There was a small beeping sound, a click and
a light flashed from red to green. I lifted the handle of the door and opened it upwards. Inside
the surprisingly deep cavity was a pile of yellow envelopes stamped with Neurocam’s logo and
hermetically sealed in clear plastic wrap. Each envelope had a handwritten name on it,
presumably operatives’ names. There must have been about one hundred in total. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TN4AJJu8MGp-ujAZ1o0l85ZbgvZZgDztCnBhnIHFaYSzlFcv20A0htYtowEJKxGtqH99gQCcNby4snurHSoa6nvvn5xeD0WxId9bBWQrv1HKxuuamt-O3dRcTYjyMhg7Yen6csik7lUT/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+10.56.53+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TN4AJJu8MGp-ujAZ1o0l85ZbgvZZgDztCnBhnIHFaYSzlFcv20A0htYtowEJKxGtqH99gQCcNby4snurHSoa6nvvn5xeD0WxId9bBWQrv1HKxuuamt-O3dRcTYjyMhg7Yen6csik7lUT/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+10.56.53+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I pulled them
all out and sorted through intriguing names like Tillops, Midnight and Elhorhanna until I
found one with my own operative name on it. I was very tempted to open someone else’s
envelope, but worried that I was being watched and this was strictly against Neurocam’s
instructions. Following my orders, I put all the envelopes back, closed the safe and replaced the
matting and wood-chips. I made my way back to my car without seeing anybody or anything
unusual.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Once inside my car, which I considered to be a ‘secure location’, I opened the envelope. It
contained a typed letter on Neurocam letterhead signed personally by Neurocam’s mysterious
CEO Bridget Fischer, along with a small orange badge with a strange logo resembling an all
seeing eye on it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-voLQkIwjZgRxZkhq8tybN55AYaGcfewXB_iP0oxjjEtPlMvxHsHqfRiUP_ep3C2Hl0X7Z4zuFXy5WMd8Qb6Qr26PO-_wkdeCtyHyIu3EspI2jDc5X3MNu9r35L5ecxVZP_OLgeDeakL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.01.46+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-voLQkIwjZgRxZkhq8tybN55AYaGcfewXB_iP0oxjjEtPlMvxHsHqfRiUP_ep3C2Hl0X7Z4zuFXy5WMd8Qb6Qr26PO-_wkdeCtyHyIu3EspI2jDc5X3MNu9r35L5ecxVZP_OLgeDeakL/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-22+at+11.01.46+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I read the letter:</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Dear Operative [name withheld for privacy purposes]
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="column">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Welcome to Neurocam!
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">I am pleased to advise that I hereby offer you a position within Neurocam International.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Your Perception Assignment report was evaluated in accordance with our pre-determined
assessment criteria. Neurocam’s Human Resources and Security Division found that your
report demonstrated a minimum of seven of the ten qualities desired by Neurocam International.
This rating determines that you would be an appropriate candidate for operational deployment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam International hopes that you will accept this offer and that this act will mark the
beginning of a sustained, mutually beneficial association with our organisation. Upon
acceptance of our offer you will immediately receive accreditation for ongoing operational
deployment, a privilege achieved by less than 26% of applicants.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Your operational deployment will be effective immediately. The details of your first assignment
must remain confidential until such time as the Operations Division contacts you. Be aware, the
date of your first assignment will be determined by a variety of factors (including, but not limited
to, your current location, your age and the state of any current Neurocam operations within your
area). Although your deployment is effective immediately, Neurocam cannot guarantee the
exact date upon which you will receive your first assignment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Being part of Neurocam is a responsibility we expect you to take very seriously. Neurocam
International highly prizes its strong corporate image and reputation, and your continued
involvement with us is conditional upon the demonstration of a public manner which will in no
way reflect poorly upon the organisation. Conduct contrary to this condition, such as overt
aggression, physical violence, or any similar potentially embarrassing or disruptive behaviour
displayed during the completion of assignments, will result in the immediate termination of your
involvement with the organisation.</span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Congratulations on completing Neurocam’s application process. I take great pleasure in being
the first to welcome you to the Neurocam team.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Regards</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">Bridget Fischer</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">CEO</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Neurocam International</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">bridget.fischer@neurocam.com
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 10pt;">So this was it, I was now officially part of Neurocam International without having any idea what it
actually was. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3