“1945-1998” BY ISAO HASHIMOTO

This is a project that visualizes every atomic bomb explosion from 1945-1998 on a global map. It also adds distinct sounds and counters for each country responsible.

The project has this sort of gamified aesthetic which i find particularly disturbing, sort of an old school computer program. Reducing the death of a hundred thousand people to a single blip. Reminds me of the fact that USA’s atomic warheads are still controlled by floppy disks.

It’s hard to put into perspective what the cold war was like, until you see this. Super powers flaunting and posturing to find out who’s the most powerful and millions of bystanders just watching.

Critique – Even though the video format is effective at scaling the timeline and providing an impactful presentation, this project can be easily updated to allow viewers to engage the information in different ways and establish new relationships with and in between the data.

Here’s an “interactive” map from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty http://www.ctbto.org/map/#mode=nuclear