for what it's worth

mail call & mystery

I received the following email today:

Dear Lady J,

I recently did some enquiring regarding the (potential) origins of
Neurocam in its current state. This information has been given to teigan, xade
and Random Voodoo. You may publish this information on your blog
should you wish, but I ask that my identity be kept confidential.

Information is as follows, in order:

Email to COCA in New Zealand:

Hello,

I write to enquire about an artist, namely Robin Hely. I heard mention
that he displayed a work "Project Neurocam" at your gallery in 2000.

I wanted to get confirmation that this was the case and if possible a
description and/or photos of the exhibit.

Much thanks,
xxxx

Reply:

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for enquiry. From my knowledge "Project Neurocam" was perhaps
part of the University of Canterbury S F A exhibition Dream Series600.
If you want any further information on this artist or on this exhibition
you will need to contact the University of Canterbury as they will
hopefully have copies of the catalogue.
Kind regards
Rachael Slade
Art Consultant

University of Canterbury:

Hello,

I write to enquire about an artist, namely Robin Hely. I contacted a
gallery that he displayed work at, in particular a piece called
"Project Neurocam". I have also seen he has a catalogue on your
website, is actually a (former ?) student.

I was wondering if you were able to provide me with any information
regarding Mr Hely's current projects, if he has any. Any information
is much appreciated.

Regards,
xxxxx

Reply:

Hello xxxxx,
The catalogue for dreamseriessixhundred in in two University
libraries, The Macmillan Brown Library and The School of Fine Arts
Reference Library. Call number N 7406.5 .D771 2000

There is a short artist biography in the back of the catalogue,
concerning Robin Hely:
"Robin Hely graduated from Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 1993 with
a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography. He spent the next four
years in Australia, Thailand India and Indonesia, continuing his
photographic practice with a photo essay of a mountain biking trip
across the North Indian Himalayas. After experimenting with video and
slide projection installations in Melbourne, rovin returned to
CHroistchurch to embark on post graduate studies in Digital Media. He
attained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in digital media in 1998
and is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts degree. In 1999 he
was awarded the Ethol Rose Overton Scholarship for Masters in digital
Media.

A copy of his masterate is held in the School of Fine Arts Reference
Library. You will have to view it here as items are not for loan or
interloan from this library.

I hope this is of assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Devon Sinclair
Librarian
School of Fine Arts

Reply from the VCA:

Dear xxxxx

Unfortunately, I am unable to help you with your enquiry.  Mr Hely was
teaching here a year or so ago but has since left the VCA.  Perhaps you
could look him up at the Art Almanac website, http://www.art-almanac.com.au

Good luck with your search!

Yours sincerely

Catherine Malcolm

Catherine Malcolm
Administration Officer
School of Art
VCA
234 St Kilda Road
Southbank  Vic  3006
Tel: 03 9685 9469
Fax: 03 9685 9459
Web: vca.unimelb.edu.au
CRICOS Provider Codes: 00116K, 00104C

I continue to be intrigued by this particular facet of the Neurocam mystery. Are Hely and his merry band of Melbourne artists the architects of Neurocam? If so, are they still driving the train?

Or did they merely encounter Neurocam in its early days and decide, being the avant-garde artists that they are, to riff on it? Were Hely, Burke, or Maling ever operatives?

At some point I want to go back and cross-reference all the Henley-era material to see who said what and when, but right now I'm hungry and I need to be taken out to dinner. Happy St. Hallmark Day, y'all.

the sneaker pimp is (sc)hott

The Sneaker Pimp. From the homepage of University of Waikata (NZ) prof Gareth Schott, who specializes in new media and role playing. Specifically:

as a psychologist he is principally interested in the ways new media   technologies mediate human behavior and personal and social development. Over the past   four years his research, publications and conference papers have focused on 'players' of   digital games.

I've only just begun to explore all this -- figured I'd post what I had and come back with more, if there is any.

alias within an alias

Robin Hely's name has been changed on the "Meet the team" page of shelleyinnocence to "Bob Hely," though the photo remains the same.

pink?

Who is Lisa Andrews?

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Robinhely.com has changed again.

shelly

Just noticed the Shellywood diary has been updated over at shelleyinnocence.com. Two new entries, the first dated Jan. 7, the second Jan. 13. Though I'm nearly positive I've visited that page between Jan. 7 and today, so I'm guessing the update is more recent than that.

Ahoo. For the lazies:

Friday January 7, 2005
 My sister Kelly called yesterday and said 'Shelly, you must try Neurocam!'
 Kelly is such a fad-ster! First botox, then lip enhancement, now Neurocam.
I told her about Photoshop and how it did wonders for my crows feet, and she reckons she'll give it a try.

Thursday January 13, 2005
Dear reader, I’m not sure where this is leading but I thought I’d share it with you.
Today I saw my shrink and I told him how I was tired of my life and how things never seem to change. He just stared at me beady-eyed and said "Shelly – you’re STUCK!' Then I thought 'Heck! I’m STUCK!' and almost burst into tears. Stuck with who I am and everything I have and don't have and nothing will EVER change! Stuck in hell and trapped FOREVER! I wanted to run out of the room.
       
After a minute of gaping silence and staring at the forest poster on the wall, he qualified it by saying 'That’s how you feel, but not how it has to be'. I can’t tell you how glad I was that I stayed to hear the end bit.
         
I guess, if one doesn’t take the next step forward in life change will never be experienced. Delay is a great way to avoid change or risk. Comfort zones are just so…ugh! comfortable!
       
Being an ubermodel is such a drag. I spend all my time getting ready for photoshoots. I’d love a day where I can just be Myself™.
       
It’s been a big one. I think I'll have a bubble bath! Shell.

As far as I can recall, this is the first mention of Neurocam on shelleyinnocence.

(Sorry for the tiny type. It's embedded in the text in something awful HTML. Who the hell does their web design? Oh yeah, Robin Hely.)

(Whose site has also been updated, as noted by Tony Hacknell.)

dang, bridget

There comes a time when you have to stop protecting people from their own mistakes. In this particular instance, that time seems to have come.

First there was this comment on the trout post, by the amusingly named Shelley Guilt:

In the Neurocam Operatives document which has been floating around bulletin boards and blogs, the name Briele Hansen appears however is only shown in a broken part of the document. The domain name ROBINHELY.COM is actually owned by this person.

Registrant:
   briele hansen
   32 wright st
   CliftonHill
   Melbourne, Victoria 3068
   AU

   Registrar: DOTSTER
   Domain Name: ROBINHELY.COM
      Created on: 16-SEP-04
      Expires on: 16-SEP-06
      Last Updated on: 16-SEP-04

   Administrative, Technical Contact:
      hansen, briele  [email protected]
      32 wright st
      CliftonHill
      Melbourne, Victoria  3068
      AU
      +61 3 9489 9737

Now here's the email exchange between Hansen and I concerning her involvement with Neurocam, given Bridget Fischer's claim that Hansen is/was an operative. I was waiting on Hansen's permission to publish this exchange, but she's yet to reply:

To: Briele Hansen
From: J Hawthorne
Date:  14 January 2005

Dear Ms Hansen,

Please excuse my intrusion upon your inbox.

Your name, and that of your colleague Brendan Lee, were discovered
yesterday amidst the metadata of a document sent that morning to
several people involved with a Melbourne-based project called
Neurocam. Directors of the project have indicated that you and Mr Lee
are currently or have been in the past involved with Neurocam.

Would you be so kind as to confirm or deny this allegation? Also, do
you have any idea why your name would have been contained in the
document in question (a guide for new Neurocam operatives)? Last, what
is your relationship to Graham Henstock, whose name appeared adjacent
to yours in the document?

Thank you for your time.

J Hawthorne
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To: J Hawthorne
From: Briele Hansen
Date:  17 January 2005

Dear J,

No intrusion, no problem

what I can tell you is:

I am a new Neurocam operative and I have been given 1 assignment so far

I meet Brendan Lee in Melbourne a couple of years ago. He is an interesting
video artist and now curator.

I have never heard of Graham Henstock, and am doing my own research on him

I do not know why my name appeared next to his and have not receive the
document you mention. Can you forward it to me?

I am interested in your use of the word allegation... why that word?

What kind of project do you think Neurocam is?

With interest

B

And last, though it twists at my sense of ethics to do this (see opening sentence of this post for moral justification): Those who were motivated enough to investigate the New Zealand Companies Office documents relating to Neurocam should recognize that Clifton Hill address. How many fake identities are we talking about here?

a delicate trout for dinner

With an influx of operatives even newer than myself to this mystery called Neurocam, there's been a series of "new discoveries" posted in the comments on this site, and on other Cam-related sites. The majority of those discoveries relate to Robin Hely's connection to Neurocam, and are, in fact, fairly well-known facts.

While I've no doubt that fresh eyes will uncover all sorts of dark and delicious Neurocam morsels that have been previously overlooked, I encourage new operatives to first go back and read the blog archives of some of the Cam veterans. Graham has been at it the longest (a year), and his archives are a must-read. Tript, Xade, and Hamish joined up about six months later, and their blogs also contain a ton of valuable information. Be sure to read the comments, as well, on their Cam-related post. Some mysterious gems in there.

That said, retreading familiar ground (once it has, indeed, become familiar to you) is also invaluable. I was about to dismiss a comment on this post by Monikka, linking to this Hely page -- which is old news. But upon clicking through to remind myself which details in particular were on that page, I saw why Monikka had reposted it: the page has been taken down. So looking for changes to known material is as important as looking for new material. Just RTFM first, darlings.

the better business bureau

I meant to post this much earlier, but things got hectic.

One of the many questions swirling around Neurocam is the Robin Hely question. It's the classic chicken and the egg: were Hely's "Who is Robert Henley" and "Neurocam is mind control" projects an inspired reaction to the "real" Neurocam, or is Hely the creator of the whole shebang?

I don't have the answer to that (heh -- like I have the answer to anything Neurocam-related), but I do have this: Robin Mark Hely has been the sole proprietor of the Australian company Neurocam since September 6, 2000. The New Zealand Neurocam, if you recall, wasn't formed until August 11, 2004.

Hmmmmmm.

hrmmm

Well, the lid's blown off. Or is it? Graham insists he has no idea how or why his name came to be embedded in that Fischer document, and he may well be right. But grouped with two other Melbourne avant-garde artists, the implications do seem kind of damning, don't they?

Let's take a quick look at our collaboratuers. First there's Brendan Lee, of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the VCA (Hely's old stomping grounds). Lee, who is attached to the university's PVC Design & Social Context Creative Media department, has a particular interest in experimental film and video production. (Need a fake torture tape, anyone?)

Lee, as curator of Projekt Video Catalogue from August 2002 through December 2003, had no shortage of opportunity to become familiar with the works of Robin Hely (see Issue 1, misspelled as Healy) and Peter Burke (Issue 4).

Next we have Briele Hansen, another RMIT artist with an interest in video installation.

I wrote to Bridget Fischer to get the denial (of Graham's involvement, specifically) straight from the pony's mouth, and in due course received this response:

Dear JH

This processing error is of no consequence. The names within the macro
data are past and present operatives.

Cheers

Bridget

I wrote to Lee and Hansen to inquire of their Neurocam involvement; they should be drinking their morning coffee right about now, so we'll see if they eventually reply.