Working with the nuclear economy and nuclear aesthetics is a complex ethical process, one that twists and turns through spirals of technical jargon, nuclear utopianism and deep psychic fear. In this culture of extremes, artists engaging with contemporary nuclear culture walk a political tightrope interrogating how nuclear aesthetics are reproduced whilst avoiding the simplifying tropes of industry and activism. In parallel to artistic practices, this essay explores some of the constructions of nuclear modernity, and the means of escape and betrayal, which contribute to rethinking nuclear aesthetics in the early twentieth century.
If we look back at Maholy Nagy's 'Nuclear' paintings, also made as a contemporary response to the nuclear culture of his time, we can see how an interrogation of atomic visual affects are deeply rooted in the politics of nuclear modernity. In contrast artistic practices today are engaging with social contexts, the lived experience of radiation, sensing, and deep time cultures of folklore, ritual, archiving and site marking. Today questions of radioactive visibility are articulated through: print, sound and data capture technologies sensing radiation in the landscape; an investigation of materials and geological mapping; and traditional forms of care and solidarity in the advent of disaster. In theoretical terms, artworks can bring us closer to the nuances of nuclear culture, perhaps making visible the moments in which we might try to escape nuclear modernity, or at least make visible its totalizing effect.