Chris Oakley
Half Life
2008, 14’36”, HD video
10 March – 16 March 2015
Half-life looks at the histories of Harwell, birthplace of the UK nuclear industry, and the development of fusion energy technology at the Culham facility in Oxfordshire. Produced with the cooperation of both these organisations, the film examines nuclear science research through a historical and cultural filter. Drawing on archive footage of the sites, alongside contemporary materials, the work takes structural clues from nuclear physics, exploring the heritage of nuclear energy from the roots of the technology that drove the industrial revolution. The relationship between nature, and our reliance on mineral energy resources, and the portrayal of the often-mundane realities of nuclear research seek to ‘normalise’ emotionally driven debates around the subject. With the recent widespread acceptance of the reality of climate change driven by carbon dioxide emissions, the work explores the realities and myths surrounding the nuclear sciences. Half-life was commissioned by the Arts Catalyst and SCAN.
Half-life
| The average time needed for half the nuclei in a sample of a radioactive substance to undergo radioactive decay. The half-life of a substance does not equal half of its full duration of radioactivity. For example, if one starts with 100 grams of radium 229, whose half-life is 4 minutes, then after 4 minutes only 50 grams of radium will be left in the sample, after 8 minutes 25 grams will be left, after 12 minutes 12.5 grams will be left, and so on. |
The Arts Catalyst
The Arts Catalyst is one of the UK’s most distinctive arts organisations, distinguished by ambitious art commissions and its unique take on art-science practice. The organisation’s primary focus is commissioning new artists’ projects, presented in a range of museums, art galleries and other public spaces in the UK and internationally. In its 20 years, The Arts Catalyst has commissioned more than 120 artists’ projects, including major new works by Tomas Saraceno, Aleksandra Mir, Critical Art Ensemble, Jan Fabre, Yuri Leiderman, Stefan Gec, Otolith Group, Beatriz da Costa, Kira O’Reilly and Marko Peljhan, and has produced numerous exhibitions, events, performances and publications, collaborating with major arts, science and academic organisations.
The Arts Catalyst plays a leading role in the development of artists’ engagement with science, and critical discourse around this field. Through commissions, exhibitions and events, Arts Catalyst enables people to have distinctive, thought-provoking experiences that transcend traditional boundaries of art and science.
Nuclear Fission
Spontaneous or induced splitting of an atomic nucleus, usually with an associated release of energy. The most common fissile nuclear fuels are uranium-235 (half-life 704 million years) and plutonium-239 (half-life 24,110 years).
Nuclear Fusion
The creation of a new nucleus by merging two lighter ones, with the release of energy.
Arts Catalyst Nuclear Culture Project
The Nuclear Culture Project is a curatorial exploration of nuclear culture, which began with considering the conceptual and cultural challenges of dismantling nuclear submarines in the UK, inviting artists to consider the aesthetic, conceptual, ethical and cultural concerns of nuclear submarines in conjunction with experts in the field. The project is bringing together scientists, engineers and community activists with artists and ethicists to develop new opportunities for creative practice investigating nuclear culture. Specific areas of enquiry include: the invisibility of the nuclear economy, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant meltdown, geological waste storage, the Anthropocene, and nuclear humanities [more here].
Nuclear Culture website here.
Eva & Franco Mattes Plan C
“We made a rather adventurous trip to Chernobyl, Ukraine, site in 1986 of one of the most dramatic nuclear disasters ever…[more here].”