Innocence in the time of war

Q What art are you mainly intoA I work at the intersection of art and documentary Through lensbased works I explore the social function of art mdash how films and photographs can have an impact in the real world The intent of my work is to be directly beneficial to the subject Therefore I constantly seek new ways to empower the subject over the authorYouth in Afghanistan Pic CourtesyMark NevilleFor instance in 2004 I spent a year as an artistinresidence at Port Glasgow Port Glasgow was once a global shipbuilding centre but now is a town facing economic decline The result of my project was a beautiful coffeetable book conceived as a symbolic gift to the communityThe book was uniquely delivered mdash free to 8000 households in the port by members of the local Boys Football Club In this way rather than having a public work imposed on them the city folk received a document of their lives and were both hosts and protagonists of the artistic experiment The book is not available anywhere else The idea was to get rid of the exploitation that occurs with the commercialisation of such artQ Since you had never before worked as a war artist how did Helmand come about And what made you take it onA In October 2010 I received an invitation to interview for a residency to work as a war artist in Helmand The residency would be commissioned by an arts organisation firstsite in Colchester Essex and Imperial War Museumrsquos Art Commissions Committee It was to be hosted by 16 Air Assault Brigade the largest regiment in the British ArmyIt had never occurred to me to make work in a war zone but when the invitation came it suddenly seemed relevant to my life since my grandfather Jack Neville was a captain of a ship during WW2Young troops at the firing range in HelmandHis behaviour when he came back from four years at sea is what I now recognise as PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder That had a profound effect on my family determining key aspects of my life I remember my grandfather as an aggressive character He also took lots of photographs after he returned His perspective on life seemed defined by the lens he would either look down through the waistlevel viewfinder of a box camera or through a telescope that he had installed in his coastal home He was always looking at the seaWhen he wasnrsquot looking through the lens he was barking orders at the family His inability to communicate in a pleasant way coupled with the need to mediate life via a lens impacted me and somehow led to my career choices When the interview for the residency came about I thought that my family history could allow me to bring a unique perspective on the conflictQ Most of us cannot imagine a war zone What were your initial days like in HelmandA To get to Helmand I had to make my way from Glasgow to Brize Norton the air force base from which my flight left for Helmand The army kit was horrendously heavy and made for a stressful domestic journey Boarding this plane was different from the usual with 300 passengers all of whom are men in their 20s wearing combat gear The 16hour flight was one of almost complete silence There was a tangible sense of fear and foreboding Nevertheless I was intuitively aware that these people knew each other I knew no one I felt myself in alienationA production still from Nevillersquos film Backdrops Pics CourtesyMark NevilleNormally when I start a project in a new community I find it easy to connect with people and this has been integral to the success of my projects Here initially there didnrsquot seem to be any connection between me mdash an artist in his 40s mdash and these boys going to war I felt selfconscious about my background my purpose of going there and my lack of physical prowessWhen we arrived at the base in Helmand it was midnight Only fluorescent lamps lit our way from the tarmac to the arrival tentsThe troops then dispersed but there was no one to meet me I was at a loss as to what to do I managed to find my heavy kit and walked off into the darkness After stumbling in the pitchdark for half an hour I found a tent One of the beds in the tent was empty I climbed in and fell asleep but awoke at 530 am covered in blood I later learned that nosebleeds were common here At daybreak I was able to locate the unit that hosted me in my initial daysQ Could you elaborate on the films that you shot in HelmandA Before I left for Helmand I had backdrops fabricated for my film titled Backdrops These backdrops were photographic reproductions of paintings and photographs from previous Afghan Wars WW1 and WW2 They were works of famed war artists like John Piper and Paul Nash and photographer John Burke Their works served as artificial backdrops to the current lsquorealrsquo action in HelmandMark Neville in HelmandI chose backgrounds which contained a perspective that would work with the foreground in theme and size For instance in one scene I used a backdrop which had Burkersquos image of a child musician while in the foreground local village children blew soap bubbles The aim was to evoke an emotion and make a connection between conflict then and now to question the many times we have gone to war Has anything changed The answer is obvious and yet rarely translates to international policy Through iconic backdrops I also wanted viewers to examine how we are numbed to oversaturated images of war Bolan Market is a silent slow motion filmBolan Market Lashkar Gah had been described to me as a success story by the ISAF International Security Assistance Force Previously part of the Talibanrun territory this area began to flourish following its occupation by ISAF Cars stalls shoppers spoke of the beginning of trade Nevertheless my film depicts a complex relationship between the locals and the armed forces I shot this film from a Husky armoured vehicleWhile some of the local faces seemed warm others were clearly uncomfortable disturbed or angered And thatrsquos what I tried to bring out by the use of slow motion in my film When I requested to film on the ground amongst locals I was told that there were Taliban sympathisers in the market and I would be lsquokilled or kidnapped within 20 minutesrsquo How could I engage with the Afghan community in any meaningful way when my connection was made possible only through a machine of war In Helmand this desire to speak to locals to make work which gave them a voice was utterly frustrated Hence I left the film muteQ Would you ever return to a conflict zoneAThe experience changed my life and not for the betterLog on to wwwmarkneville com for more information