Singing along to a Soldier's Song
10th June 2010
The image of the modern British soldier is one that has been shaped by the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Through the media, they have been portrayed as tough, brave and resolute.
The Soldier's Song is an art project which is challenging that image by adding a new word to the description: tuneful.
Put together by Salford-based artists Quarantine, the installation at the Manchester Art Gallery gives the public chance to duet with a serving soldier.
Quarantine's Artistic Director, Renny O'Shea, is the driving force behind the project.
"When I started this project, I didn't know any soldiers and wanted to know more about the individuals who go to war in our name.
"I wanted to find a way of exploring the world of serving soldiers, explore the connection between a military and civilian world.
"I didn't know when I started the research what the end result would be. "
That research led her to meet and speak to several serving soldiers from the North West, one of whom gave her the idea for the duets.
"One of the soldiers I spoke to told me he loved to sing karaoke.
"I don't sing karaoke, but I enjoy watching it.
"I love how the carefully constructed sits side by side with a kind of vulnerability and how it's fun and funny and profoundly moving all at once. "
Connection
That contrast of experiences within one event was exactly what Renny was looking for and she set about collecting films of soldiers singing their favourite songs.
Working closely with a community liaison officer who 'brokered a lot of conversations and introductions,' she gathered the material and set about presenting it to an audience.
That meant building a one-on-one duet booth, which invites the public to step inside and sing with a soldier, allowing an intimate connection to someone who is serving in a distant land.
Renny says she can 'only guess at what each member of the audience experiences of their own take on what they see and hear,' but insists that 'all responses are valid. '
As for her own response, she says that is wrapped up with the 'general change in public opinion' he has seen since she started working on The Soldier's Song.
She believes that there is 'less knee jerk anti-militarism, more sympathy for human beings' than there was when Britain first became involved with what was dubbed the 'War on Terror. '
But it's not just on the wider level that things have changed, said Renny who admitted that she's 'had a lot of preconceptions challenged for sure. '
The Soldier's Song is at Manchester Art Gallery until Sunday 4 July.
Source: BBC News - Manchester
