I began the Fat Boy series in 1994. Fat Boy Nuclear Bomb, done in 2000, is the latest in the series. Sometime prior to the seriesi inception, I read Richard Rhodesi powerful book, iThe Making of the Atomic Bomb.i About the same time, I read a number of articles about the way in which nuclear weapons were being deployed internationally. Nuclear weapons were effective only if the nation using them had a monopoly; otherwise, they were effective only if not used. Thus, nuclear weapons became markers of the limits of the acceptable. This far, but no further. I thought if I could make an image of a nuclear weapon beautiful, I could fuse the current political attitudes towards these bombs with a very old notion of art: This image is too powerful to use.

Rhodes revealed some other things about the early nuclear weapons that made me believe the parallels between them and art were very strong. First, the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs were hand made, one-of-a-kind objects. Later, I went to see the Enola Gay exhibit at the National Air and Space museum several times. I could see the hammer dents in the Fat Manis skin.

I combined the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs in my art bomb, Fat Boy. Because I like round things, I made my bomb very round, cartoon round. Fat Boy looks like a toy, but just try to play with it.

Of course, in this image, the Fat Boy is in the landscape, with his target. It amazes me how easy it is in contemporary life to forget we can vaporize the planet. The reason we forget so easily is because the bomb is a part of our environment like a mountain or a tree. Itis a force of nature.

Biography

Artist's Books or Book-Like Works
Camping Out B, 1975, offset book
George Maciunas, Fluxus and the Face of Time (first illuminated computer manuscript, using Jean Brown Ultrabold, an original typeface, a 164 page continuous bargraph, and tipped in photos.), in 2 vols., 1984

Collections
The Jean Brown Archive (A portion of the Archive is called the Fred Truck Museum--all his essential work and papers are deposited there. This collection is now in the Getty Museum.)
The Museum of Modern Art
The Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, West Germany
The University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History
Computer Art and Related Works
Databases
Co-founded, with Carl Loeffler in 1986, the Art Com Electronic Network, the first on-line conference for artists. Available continuously on the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL). Dissolved in 1999.
Software
ArtEngine, a stand-alone application applying artificial intelligence to graphics, text analysis and design-1987 - 1991.
Bottega, an interactive CD-ROM for the Macintosh allowing the user to explore a digital artists workshop. Introduces the user to Analog Engine, a steam-powered visual analog of ArtEngine software noted above. 1991-1995.
Virtual Reality Artworks
Labyrinth, 1993--flight simulator, based on parts of da Vinciis Flying Machine, built at Carnegie Mellon University with programmers under supervision of Carl Loeffler.
Articles on Computer Art
ArtEngine in Words on Works, Leonardo, Volume 24, Number 1, 1991
Presentations and Demonstrations
ARS ELECTRONICA, Brucknerhaus Linz, Linz, Austria, September 13-16, 1989. In the Network of Systems.
MACHINE CULTURE at SIGGRAPH 1993, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California, August 1-6, 1993. "Labyrinth" virtual reality art work.
Residency, Lectures
Art Studio, BIOAPPARATUS residency, October 7, 1991 through November 11, 1991, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Alberta.
Visiting Artist and Lecturer at the Kansas City Art Institute, April 13 through 15, 1994 n demonstrated ArtEngine and Bottega and discussed work
Consultant
Served as panelist for the New England Foundation for the Arts, 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA on the New Forms Grants, May 23-26, 1994. Specialty was computer art.
Shows
Almost Warm & Fuzzy: Childhood and Contemporary Art, 9-12-99 through 11-21-99 at The Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa. Group show will tour through 2001. Included works are Neon Mr. Milk Bottle and Ask Mr. Milk Bottle, an interactive computer animation.
The Adventures of Mr. Milk Bottle, 10-29-98 through 11-30-98 at the Vail Geisler Gallery, Des Moines, Iowa. Iris prints, wood, ceramic and neon sculptures, fake tattoos, performance, interactive Web site and interactive computer software and animation.

Work

FAT BOY NUCLEAR BOMB AND TARGET IN LANDSCAPE, 2000