A Machine to Unmake You

2019 - ongoing

A Machine to Unmake You is a project created by Melanie Crean in conjunction with the Education Team at FACT Liverpool, Dr. Emma Murray at John Moores University, and incarcerated veterans in Liverpool, England. FACT originally commissioned Crean in 2019 to work with incarcerated ex-forces to create a “knowledge library” of material that might be helpful for civilians to understand the challenges people face when leaving the military. Working with the Veterans Hub at Altcourse prison, the group decided to focus instead on society’s stereotyping of both veterans and the incarcerated, and the need for offboarding services to facilitate veterans to transition back into civilian life. If bootcamp is a “machine” that makes soldiers, the veterans described that there is no corresponding machine to “unmake them;” nothing to help soldiers return to civilian society.

The ongoing project has developed 3 forms of output. The first is a series of silent performances designed with veterans at Altcourse prison to represent their dignity and mutual aid in supporting one another, despite the context of incarceration. The videos, shown at FACT from March 1 - June 2, 2024; are all clocks in various forms, exploring concepts of time, the body, labour and mutual aid amongst the men.

The second is publication which includes interviews with veterans and justice-studies researchers, artists working collaboratively with incarcerated populations, and a photo essay (a hacked “style guide” for the the project’s “M2UY brand”) interwoven with writings by the participants. The publication also describes methods and curriculum used in the project that center the lived experience of those affected by the justice system.

The final output is a program being designed in collaboration with Dr. Emma Murray at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) to pilot ‘a machine to unmake you’ - an idea resulting from the participatory futures exercises done with the veterans - to create a restorative practice track in conjunction with a course for formerly incarcerated students at LJMU, and a related mutual aid support group, to continue supporting the students through their educational journey.