Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pacific 3 2 1 zero




The top image is of  a circular dome on Runit Island in the Pacific. According to theBrookings Institution, 111,000 cubic yards of radioactive soil and nuclear test debris from Bikini and Rongelap Atolls lie beneath this dome. Built between 1979 and 1980 at a cost of USD239m, it covers the 30ft deep 250ft wide crater created on 5 May 1958 by the Cactus test. 

The image below is of From Scratch, the legendary percussion group founded by Phil Dadson, performing Pacific 3 2 1 zero. First performed at the Paris Biennale in 1981, the work was a protest against nuclear testing and waste dumping in the Pacific. A film of Pacific 3 2 1 zero was made with Gregor Nicholas that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes/Midem Visual Music Awards in 1984.
Image: Phil Dadson, Pacific 3 2 1 zero (one of three images collectively titled Triads - ground plans, From Scratch 1980-1983), C-print photograph on metalic photographic paper, 1200 x 1200mm, edition of 3