Multimedia Installation
Enormous number of monuments were built in Bulgaria during the totalitarian system and each one of them was conceived to fill some part of the huge propaganda agenda of that period.
There were also propaganda structures that were made in the way of western advertisements and one of survived ones, a huge 12 x 12 meters neon billboard that is presenting how the traffic light works comparing to the traffic policemen (militsioner) can be seen as a monument of one of ignored now aspects of the system that time – its great effort to migrate from manual to automated control.
This light “advertisement” promotes the traffic light to the passers by and also explains visually how its regulation works. There are big red, yellow and green circles one under another followed by the words “stop”, “attention” and “go ahead” (in Bulgarian) and a huge figure of a traffic policeman showing the body language signs for the same signals.
According to prof. Rashko Ivanov in 1964 the Bulgarian Communist Party decided a new strategy of managing the economy where the automation had a crucial role and in 1981 for the eighth five-year plan (petiletka) this role was increased to a general direction of “total automation of the economy”[1].
One of the most visible results of this effort was also the huge reverse engineering computer industry that was developed in Bulgaria from the 70s till the very end of 80s.
The main reason for this effort was the great respect that communist ideology had to machines and disrespect to the unpredictable nature of human beings, but also the propaganda that was always excusing weaknesses of the system with the imperfection of the people implementing their tasks.
This transition was never completed but the confusion between desire of organizing different aspects of life (society, economy, state) automatically, and the belief that is impossible to be done, was one of the main outbalancing factors in our life. Moreover the feeling that we are imperfect human beings who are not able to organize well working process in any aspect, is still huge disappointment in the Bulgarian society even now 20 years after the collapse of that regime.
Now we can only guess why this huge neon advertisement of the traffic light was made, because “First Neon Factory” doesn't exist anymore and it's documentation is gone. But still it is clear that such expensive and sophisticated structures were used back at that time only for propaganda purposes.
This is why we can see now this light construction as a symbol (or monument) of the transition from manual to automated control. We can guess that this unique billboard is meant to be a veritable monument, more than to have some instructional value, similar to many other monuments devoted to virtues and values for the construction of the “communist society”.
The task of the research will be to focus on the very core of its metaphor, and to investigate, after more than 40 years of its appearance on boulevard Maria Luisa, which are the visible effects of the process of the automation of the control.
At this regard, the memories of the old people still living in the opposite apartment block will for sure be interesting. And so will be the remarks of the young people who nowadays live there, substituting the previous generation. The latter never saw the “advertisement” lighted on, neither lived the Socialistic epoch, but are still under the influence of its achievements and failures.
The Project.
The aim of the work is to produce a video documentation that could create a portrait of different perspectives to and opinions about this artifact, as well as to raise a debate about the transition that took place in the country in the recent past.
The relevance of the building opposed to the billboard is that nowadays many people who saw the installation of the billboard still live there, together with young people who don't know much about it, and don't have experience of the Socialistic past.
The project consists of research and video documentation that will create a community portrait of the inhabitants of the building opposite, arranged around this artifact of the 60s communistic propaganda; the light advertisement will be the occasion to collect memories and opinions about its appearance, but then also personal opinions about the communist regime in Bulgaria, the changes after it's collapse.
The time decided for realization of the project “Transition from manual to automated control” is almost 20 years after the collapse of the Eastern Block and in the second year of the Bulgarian membership in the European Union that will make all the interviews remarkable documentary of the time given through people's personal stories.
The result of the work will be presented as a video installation on variable TV sets, produced from the 60s till now. They will be placed in small separated spaces with walls and windows, simulating the communal building from the project. The windows will be overlooking a working model of the light advertisement of the traffic light, installed to be visible from all of the separated spaces.
The project is supported by ERSTE Foundation and by Sofia municipality.
