In a densely informative pair of articles
in the New Yorker, this caught my eye:
In May, 1962, while testing BZ’s effect on soldier performance, Ketchum oversaw the construction of an entire Hollywood-style set in the form of a makeshift communications outpost. The plan was to confine four soldiers to the outpost for three days... Technicians built a small room out of plywood. Cots and a table were brought in, and a handheld radio and switchboard were positioned against the green walls. To help achieve realism, Ketchum added a large switch with a sign that warned “Danger—Do Not Touch.” Cameras were installed behind wall panels. “It was a nervy operation, no matter how you looked at it,” Ketchum wrote. “Even with an inch of padding on the walls and a two-inch foam rubber carpet to minimize the chance of injury. ”
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/17/121217fa_fact_khatchadourian#ixzz2IijpWys8
Do the tactics of Black Sites begin with the military's unhinged experiments with LSD? This would fit my (admittedly vague) vague hypothesis that the hyper- control, banality, and reproducibility of the space enables its escape from political and social boundaries, from everything we consider civilized or modern.
