Diary Fragments

Final “Sign Off Meeting”, as Angela says, they ‘wheel in the bigwigs at the end’. Today’s bigwig was AD Lt Col ******* ******* who was wearing a pinstripe double breasted suit and shiny clean. Around the table, were Angela Weight, Danny **** from the ****** ******, Charlotte ******* from the MoD art collection, her assistant Patrick, and Tom *****. John ******** from the *** was off sick. I expected all sorts of conditions were to be applied to the work. It was made clear I was ‘very lucky’ to have gained access and that if I applied now it would have been a firm, but polite ‘No’. The Ad Lt Col seemed annoyed I had pulled it off. Looking at the body of work I had made he had concerns with words and numbers within my photographs, and as the objections have not been about imagery per se , but details within them, I will have to censor the photographs digitally. This will be an interesting condition for the work to absorb. One which reflects my relationship with the MoD. The AD Lt Col didn’t want the work to be a ‘terrorists guide to the facility’ but was more than happy for me to use the projected map of Iran I found in a conference room. Smoke signals for those who care to look. I listened his commands as security alarms went off around us and a broad northern accent on the PA told us to remain where we were. I suggested I use conjectural descriptions of a environment I had been denied access to in replacement for the photographs I could have taken. I was an emphatic ‘No’ and ’who told you about these rooms..?’ I gave an unsatisfactory explanation of how I even knew about them. The truth was that no one told me anything, you just get to understand that certain things exist.

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