Eternity Ignored

are we as a societywilling to compromise for the sake of entertainment? (2) To what extent has media overkill on crime and violence desensitized us to the seriousness ofjustice? A layer of public responses has been recorded into the courtroom soundtrack . These spontaneousone-liners by a simulated viewing audience provide a range of comments, from genuinely concerned to blatantly amused. A digital graph at the bottom of the screen maps the sound of the voices. VirtualJustice premiered at Scottsdale Center for the Arts,Scottsdale, Arizona, in April 1993. ETERNITYIGNORED Stephen Moore, 2842 NW 66th St., Seattle, WA 98117, U.S.A. Ann Rosenthal, Studio Tara, 3131, Western Avenue #323, Seattle, WA 98121, U.S.A. Eternity Ignored is a collaboration that defines the initial part of a larger work in progress. The culmination of the larger work is intended to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary, in 1995,of the detonation of the first atomic bomb. On 16July 1946,an historic event was set into motion at Trinity Site near Los Alamos, New Mexico-the first atomic bomb was successfully tested by the United States. Within 1 month, two complete atomic devices were shipped, Fig. 2. Muriel Magenta ,Justice as Entertainment ,montageof scans from the video VirtualJustice, color, sound, 25 % min, 1993. VirtualJustice examinesthe issue of courtroomt r i a las mediaspectacle and, throughthe principals in six trials who are abruptlytransformed into flamboyant entertainers,asks the question:to what extent has media overkillon crime and violence desensitized us to the seriousness of justice? assembled and dropped on Japan. The focal point of this momentous experiment , conducted in the New Mexico desert, was an even more remote location : North Field-a barren airstrip on a remote speck of coral at the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, on the island of Tinian in the Northern Marianas. On this site, two B-29 aircraft were loaded for their fateful flights, resulting in over 200,000 casualties and devastating 90% of Hiroshima and 30%of Nagasaki. Tinian is situated just south of Saipan and some 150 miles north of Guam, both of which are now bustling resort destinations:particularly for the Japanese . Yet, Tinian remains sleepy, and North Field is long abandoned, overgrown . Unlike the many World War I1 memorials that dot the islands of the Pacific , this site, certainly the most significant in the war, has been largely ignored. What does this place and its silence say about our relationship to other countries, their people and their lands? What does it say about what we honor and what we choose to forget? Our installation is comprised of enlarged photo images of the North Field site, including views of Atomic Bomb Pits No. 1 and No. 2 (Fig. 3), mounted to simulate a visit to the island of Tinian. Maps, text and statistical data provide depth and background to underscore the enormity of the Trinity experiment, the subsequent decision to deploy The Bomb and the legacy of fear, unanswered questions and nuclear waste that Tinian left behind. Personal accounts leading up to this event emphasize its impact on our personal and collective history. Eternity Ignored, an ongoing work [11, provides a psychological and physical space to reflect on the singlemost important event in the history of humanityone that demonstrated our ability to destroyall life aswe know it in a matter of minutes. This reality is so unfathomable that we automaticallydeny it. Yet, to create a viablefuture, we must confront what Tinian represents. As with the survivors of the holocaust, we must vow to never forget what happened here, and we must promise that it will never happen again. The following statement accompanies the photographic installation Eternity Zgnored Late in 1942,President Franklin D. Roosevelt,in an effort to bring a swift end to World War 11, made a decision that affected not so much the end of the war but the history of humankind. By creatingthe Manhattan Engineer District (Manhattan project), a chain of eventswas set in motion that brought to reality scientific theories that unleashed a deadly new energy. Under the direction of General Leslie Groves and Dr. Robert J. Oppenheimer, a small army of scientists, engineersand support staff labored feverishly for some...