The Atomic series of sculptures and photographs were largely inspired by the events of the atomic age, during which over 1000 atomic bomb tests were conducted on land, at sea and in the atmosphere. In this relatively short historical period between 1945 and 1960, the most significant of scientific achievements arrived with lasting and largely unmanageable consequences. The Atomic series was created as a personal response to my own deeper questions about humanity; on certainty and fallibility.

Sculptures in the Atomic series are kinetic, and each draws its energy from sunlight using a small array of solar cells. Polarizing technology pioneered during the atomic age is used to modulate light transmission. These sculptures are constructed in vintage wooden explosives boxes from the 1940's and 1950's.

The Atomic photographs are a series of Polaroid emulsion lifts, presented as a triptych. A Polaroid emulsion lift is a fragile layer of film that is removed from an original photograph and, in this series, draped onto paper. The emulsion's onion skin-thin surface was selected as a medium because it could serve as a delicate host for the most powerful of atomic images.

Steve Hollinger
March 2007
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