Archimedes Chamber
Artist
Meridel Rubenstein
(American, born 1948)
Artist
Bohuslav "Woody" Vasulka
(Czechoslovakian, 1937 - 2019)
Artist
Steina Briem Bjarnadottir Vasulka
(Icelandic, born 1940)
Artist
Ellen Zweig
(American, born 1947)
Date1990-1993
MediumAudio/video, mirror
DimensionsOther (diameter): 12 in.
ClassificationsInstallation
Credit LineGift of Meridel Rubenstein and Ellen Zweig, 2024
Object number2024.28.1
DescriptionA circular video projection with accompanying audio.eMuseum Notes
Archimedes' Chamber reflects on the creation of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the interactions between the scientists and members of the small rural community around them. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project, and Edith Warner, the owner of a small tearoom next to the bridge that led to Los Alamos, are featured in this artwork. The sculpture combines found photos, video footage, and her and the artist’s own photographs, and presents multiple perspectives and fragments of this story.
The use of science as a weapon of war is a central theme to this work. The Greek scientist Archimedes reportedly used mirrors to focus sunlight and burn Roman ships during the siege of Syracuse. Archimedes’ Chamber equates Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb with the supposed heat ray Archimedes developed.On View
Not on view
