UC Irvine

This paper explores the artworks in Jason Gowans’ exhibition thesis WSMR. Preliminarily, I will focus my research on the historic details the White Sands Missile Testing Range; paying special attention to the first photographs of nuclear testing as a transition moment from traditional Kantian notions of the sublime to a continuous progression from nature to artifice. Lastly I will focus on specific works within the show, detailing them as works related to the political experience as opposed to a political language or statement. I will show that they bring different aspects of language and representation together to create the anticipation of a determinate conclusion. Ultimately, I intend highlight these works as contradictory. They negate their original intention of clarity and determination the moment the forms meet.