I returned to my image research, writing, mapping, and art making connected to the Nevada Test Site and the LA Darling mannequins (several photos posted in earlier posts). The LA Darling display mannequins were used in the 1953 and 1955 civil defense nuclear detonation operations at Yucca Flat. I have experimented with some of the imagery over the years and my goal now is to visualize and reflect on the presence, outfitting, damage, and representation / identity of each mannequin used in the detonations, and their connection and contrast to nuclear violence and the concerns in the world of actual people, places, and environments. I am researching the use of these images of before-and-after-detonation-captured bodies and scenarios in the publications and exhibitions of the time, and am thinking about who and what is missing, and asking why. I am interested in protests and resistance to the civil defense stylizations and alert exercises, and what images of these operations mean now. Continue reading →