“Recruitment gone wrong” is a work by Thomson & Craighead, inspired by actual events which took place at the Wisconsin University in 2013. There a National Security Agency (NSA) recruitment drive was turned into a kind of public question time by students, who called to account the two recruiters over lies told by the NSA, revealed through Wikileaks by whistle-blower Edward Snowden. A recording was passed to The Guardian newspaper which released it after a few days. Thomson & Craighead then staged a re-enactment of the conversation with using ventriloquists’ half-masks. Their scenic presence goes beyond the symbolism of a completely controlled character. Actually, it stages a moment when the forces of control and the rebellious leakers are forced to enter a dialogue. The automatism of what the authors define as a ‘karaoke’ are precisely then re-enacting a real-life script, through a symbolically sarcastic representation. (Images sent Courtesy of the artists)

 

Thomson & Craighead – Recruitment gone wrong