"GANGHUT Utopia"
In a cold empty space a watchtower stands on duty. The experiment control parameters are in place. The simulation study begins.
G4CE August 2004
It was never clear where this would lead or how it would pan out but the question that needed to be answered was “will humanity win, or does evil always prevail?” The gang formed quite early on, a sense of ‘prison camaraderie’ was very identifiable
and it was this that elevated production. The gatekeeper was also identified at a very early stage and it was not long before a number of volunteers had been ‘recruited’. Each agreeing to a period of incarceration.
Specific branding started to appear, for example the introduction of the uniform – green overalls. A very masculine choice. The name GANGHUT was adopted. Usable modular structures were constructed around the watchtower, each volunteer playing a particular role. GANGHUT had a home, a community, a common purpose.
Certain fictions or ideologies were used to stabilise social order, ideas of socialist work ethics, unification and utopia. The recruited volunteers became faceless and nameless using only the GANGHUT pseudonym. This technique within a group is commonly used to suppress egos, any past experiences or reputation of a member is eliminated in fear of disturbing the ethos.
The next stage was to take the group out of this controlled environment and impose some restrictions, testing the group’s adaptability. Out of the country and with limited members they were still capable of producing substantial behavioural change through the use of coercive tactics and persuasion. Seemingly ordinary unconnected members of the public were overcome with the urge to follow, if only temporarily, having remnants of a ‘cult’. The brotherhood was extended.
This latest manifestation has seen a change in the life of GANGHUT. A base has been built and some roots have been laid. This space is to be opened to external groups and individuals where GANGHUT play more of a facilitating role. Some of the original members have committed to more permanent branding and some are questioning this level of commitment. Utopia seems to have been contained within the chipboard, the maintenance of which now lies with its new landlord – is this a period of reflection or is this another failed attempt at Sir Thomas More’s Utopia?
G4CE December 200
CONTACT _Con-3C31DF4D7A4 \c \s \l Donna Holford-Lovell, Experiment Researcher