KNIGHTSBRIDGE
The second we stepped off the train at Knightsbridge, we noticed a platform attendant in his bright orange high-vis vest with loudspeaker in hand. We huddled together on the platform and began to discuss his presence, trying to decide if we should simply continue our intervention as planned and see how he reacted to us or if we should tell him about our project and see if he’d play along. The platform cleared as the train sped off, and before we could come to a decision, the platform attendant approached our huddle and cheekily exclaimed, “What’s going on!? Can I join your conversation!?” “Funny you should ask,” we responded. “We were just talking about you!”
After hearing about our intervention and seeing our series of signs, the attendant (we’ll call him C) decided that we were totally nuts but that he’d play along with us anyway. Using his handheld loudspeaker, C enacted the joke with us, saying his part as we flipped through our signs. We were thrilled to be engaged with a TfL employee on this level and to have the joke actually played out, but we knew that the intervention was designed to facilitate interaction through the mediated space of the CCTV camera with a typically authoritative person who could see us but whom we could not see. C happily offered to take us upstairs to meet the station manager and ask if he would play with us through the cameras.
On the way up to the station entrance, through bouts of laughter, C told us this was one of the worst art projects he’s ever seen and asked us if it was too late to change it. (Despite this, when asked, he didn’t have any suggestions for specific changes).
The Station Manager (who was also completely lovely) appreciated the spirit of what we were trying to activate. He said that our project “appealed” to his “stupid sense of humor” and that he would have liked to help us out, but that ultimately he couldn’t. If a TfL supervisor happened to walk through the station at that time, or if a customer complained about it, he would get into serious trouble. They were all under strict regulations from the higher orders of TfL and, as much as they personally would have liked to help us or enjoyed participating, the act of engaging with our project could jeopardize their jobs. He, like many other station managers, recommended that we get in touch with the TfL press office, pitch our project as “performance art”, and see if they would give us permission to do it.
After hearing about our intervention and seeing our series of signs, the attendant (we’ll call him C) decided that we were totally nuts but that he’d play along with us anyway. Using his handheld loudspeaker, C enacted the joke with us, saying his part as we flipped through our signs. We were thrilled to be engaged with a TfL employee on this level and to have the joke actually played out, but we knew that the intervention was designed to facilitate interaction through the mediated space of the CCTV camera with a typically authoritative person who could see us but whom we could not see. C happily offered to take us upstairs to meet the station manager and ask if he would play with us through the cameras.
On the way up to the station entrance, through bouts of laughter, C told us this was one of the worst art projects he’s ever seen and asked us if it was too late to change it. (Despite this, when asked, he didn’t have any suggestions for specific changes).
The Station Manager (who was also completely lovely) appreciated the spirit of what we were trying to activate. He said that our project “appealed” to his “stupid sense of humor” and that he would have liked to help us out, but that ultimately he couldn’t. If a TfL supervisor happened to walk through the station at that time, or if a customer complained about it, he would get into serious trouble. They were all under strict regulations from the higher orders of TfL and, as much as they personally would have liked to help us or enjoyed participating, the act of engaging with our project could jeopardize their jobs. He, like many other station managers, recommended that we get in touch with the TfL press office, pitch our project as “performance art”, and see if they would give us permission to do it.