Atomic Bomb 2016

After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, radio-controlled uavs with onboard cameras were used for recording most Atomic bomb explosion film footage. I began with a thirty second film of an Atomic bomb explosion and deliberately altered its time to 18 minutes to give the impression that the visitor is looking at a still image caught in time. This work speaks to the history of the use of unmanned vehicles that have their sources in the technologies of post WW2 nuclear weapons, and to the long held belief about collateral damage. 

This video has been shown together with found texts that speak to the history of the use of unmanned vehicles and to long held beliefs about collateral damage in order to explore relationships between today’s uavs and the atomic bomb. In the erasure exhibition, the lettering was made of chrome in order that other video works in the space would be reflected.

Texts: Truman: ‘The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians.’

Former CIA Director John Brennan: ‘There hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities we’ve been able to develop.”