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# Nuclear Tropics by Space Slave Trade
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/nuclear-tropics/
- Published: 2010-11-12T17:55:26.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:19:39.000Z
- Description: As a preview to tonight's #TheSocialGraph exhibition opening at Outpost (6-9pm) check out one of the pieces featured in the show, Space Slave Trade's “Nuclear Tropics” (2010).
- Author: Kyle Chayka
- Tags: Art, #image-position-hidden, TheSocialGraph, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

As a preview to tonight’s [#TheSocialGraph](http://hyperallergic.com/thesocialgraph/) exhibition opening at [Outpost](http://www.outpostedit.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (6-9pm) check out one of the pieces featured in the show, Space Slave Trade’s “Nuclear Tropics,” (2010) seen below:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2010/11/nucleartropics_post31.jpg)

Space Slave Trade, “Nuclear Tropics,” digital image (2010) 

The version of the piece included in #TheSocialGraph is “**Nuclear Tropics II: Escape from Bikini Peel**,” a mixed media print from 2010\. Space Slave Trade appropriates digital flourishes like pixelated abstraction, lo-fi .gif sparkles and the visual language of cel-shaded anime to present an exploded narrative of wandering in the expanses of the internet. The ecstatic digital noise is a cracked Baroque that relates as much to 4chan as Ryan Trecartin, taking in J-pop and afro-futurism along for the ride.

Space Slave Trade was banned from Facebook for posting in-progress images that violated the company’s SFW policy. Alienated from the network, the crew struck out on their own with [Spaceslavetrade.com](http://www.spaceslavetrade.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-09T03%3A46%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=500&ref=hyperallergic.com) (NSFW), a collaborative image board and blog that displays the raw material for future works.

The artists will be remixing Hyperallergic [LABS tumblelog](http://hyperallergic.tumblr.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) over the course of the exhibition. We’ll be announcing that event with a post later next week. Stay tuned!