2012 A Proposal for Nuclear Guardianship
Paradise Lost is a proposal for an interactive artwork that dramatizes radiation data from nuclear power plants. For this piece, data will be gathered in real-time from radiation probes near the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s nuclear power facility in San Luis Obispo County, California.
Once collected, the radiation data is processed and used to select and recombine phrases from John Milton’s epic poem ‘Paradise Lost’. This transformation of data will be manifested in a multi-media environment that participants experience as they move through the installation.
This synthesis of radiation data with the power of Milton’s metaphorical imagery and the participant’s own invisible contribution creates a haunting timescape of radiation. The resulting experience is designed to provoke an increased awareness of the presence and dangers of radioactive contamination and the need for the responsible care of nuclear waste materials.
Marguerite Kahrl, visual artist, with Andrew Davidson, design technologist. External support was provided by the nuclear researcher Kathleen Sullivan and the non-profit advocacy group Mothers for Peace (Obispo, CA).
© 2010, M. Kahrl, A. Davidson, K. Sullivan.
link to article:
Kathleen Sullivan and Marguerite Kahrl, “Fukushima: Monitoring the Invisible,” Truthout, April 26, 2011.