Nuclear Information Centre
A Proliferation of Bunting (2024).
[NIC/NW/010]
Nic Pehkonen, A Proliferarion of Bunting, 2023 [260 x Khaki PVC ‘warheads’, yellow cotton tape and thread, approx 75m total length].
A physically fluid exhibit in continuous celebration of the UK’s at sea nuclear deterrent (CASD), keeping us all safe 24/7 since 1969.
In March 2021, following several decades of incremental reductions, the UK Government announced its decision to raise the limit on the potential number of Trident warheads it can hold in its nuclear weapons stockpile to 260. This represented a 40% increase on the existing cap of 180 as announced in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and reiterated in 2015.
A Proliferation of Bunting comprises 260 Trident warhead ‘silhouettes’ cut from fire-retardant PVC for your safety. These are bound together by yellow cotton tape in a loose reference to the common form of uranium oxide (yellowcake) that provides the base material for the nuclear fuel that powers the submarines and weapons grade material contained within each armed warhead.
Although A Proliferation of Bunting has no fixed configuration it is intended to be hung at head height across a space or in a criss-cross formation which increases the likelihood of physical contact as the exhibit is navigated.
Bunting is so commonplace these days it often barely registers, effectively hidden in plain sight. Sometimes we find it left hanging, long after the event it was created for has taken place, gradually succumbing to elemental or other external forces.
But we must have more!
Installation at the Wilson Art Gallery & Museum, Cheltenham (03 July 2024).
Information last updated: Tue 22 Oct 2024
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