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Landon Caldwell

Bedlam Too

-86.155778, 39.777056

The Tyndall Armory (formerly Northside Armory) opened in 1926 at 711 North Pennsylvania Street. Constructed in an Italian Renaissance style, the Armory was built as a hub for the Indiana National Guard. Over the years, the Armory has regularly functioned as an event venue, hosting concerts, amateur boxing bouts and professional wrestling matches. Caldwell’s “Bedlam Too” explores the Armory’s association with pro wrestling. The work centers on the legendary figure of Dick the Bruiser, the Armory hosted his WWA wrestling promotion for three decades. Professional wrestling, particularly in its regional era, functioned as a “theater of the proletariat,” where larger-than-life characters embodied the struggle between good and evil, offering catharsis and identity to working-class audiences. “Bedlam Too” emulates the visceral energy and communal experience of these wrestling events, reflecting on how spectacle, persona, and narrative shape public perception and discourse, drawing parallels to contemporary American political theater. The piece also meditates on the decline of regional wrestling territories, mirroring broader cultural shifts and the fracturing of shared narratives, which has left a void in collective meaning-making and identity in an increasingly individualized society. “Bedlam Too” poses questions about rebuilding lost mythologies and constructing a new American mythology that acknowledges the past while fostering a shared vision for the future.

• Duration: 07:09

• Year: 2025

• Commissioned by: 16 Tech