blackbody.radiation
Introduced in 1860 by German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff, a blackbody is a hypothetical physical body, or a collection of matter in three-dimensional space that has the ability to absorb all electromagnetic radiation regardless of frequency. While in thermodynamic equilibrium, these opaque bodies emit thermal electromagnetic radiation or blackbody radiation. As a series of photographic portraits, blackbody.radiation utilizes anthropomorphic portraiture to interrogate the forced relationship of radioactive material and Black (colonized) bodies.
In March of 1945 a cement construction worker named Ebb Cade, was involved in a car accident on his way to work at a construction site for The Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. While hospitalized for his injuries, Cade was singled out by Dr. Hymer Friedell, the deputy medical director of the Manhattan Engineer District, after being admitted to the local hospital. Described as a "well developed..well nourished" "colored male", Cade would become the first human plutonium test subject. Known as HP-12 (Human Product-12), Cade was injected with Plutonium-239, in order to observe plutonium migration through the human body. A few months later, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
As a geo-political superpower, America and its western allies exploited and continue to exploit the African continent, for its mineral rich resources. Uranium from Shinkolobwe Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was used to synthesize the radioactive material that was utilized in the atomic weapons that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From WWII on, we have witnessed the continued exploitation and annihilation of peoples and communities for the sake of nuclear enrichment, capitalist agenda, and geopolitical dominance.
What if the remnants of those irradiated bodies were used to synthesize living biological reactors, capable of digesting radioactive material and harnessing electromagnetic radiation and nuclear fission?
blackbody.radiation, 2024
Archival Inkjet Prints