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# The History of Atomic Warfare in a Sprawling Installation
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-history-of-atomic-warfare-pioneer-works-the-bomb/
- Published: 2021-03-17T20:55:35.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:42:24.000Z
- Description: Inspired by nuclear weapon control centers, the bomb at Pioneer Works begins with the first atom bomb tests and traces its story to the present day.
- Author: Dan Schindel
- Tags: Film, Documentary, Events, New York, Nuclear War, Pioneer Works, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1)

[Pioneer Works](https://pioneerworks.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) is presenting the hourlong documentary [*the bomb*](https://pioneerworks.org/exhibitions/smriti-keshari-and-eric-schlosser-the-bomb/?ref=hyperallergic.com) in an installation inspired by the design of nuclear weapon command and control centers. The film, directed by Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari, and Eric Schlosser, sketches out the full history of atomic weaponry and international brinksmanship, from the first atom bomb tests in the Nevada desert in the 1940s through the Cold War into the modern day.

Schlosser previously authored [*Command and Control*](https://bookshop.org/a/539/9780143125785?ref=hyperallergic.com), a book about the same subject matter which paid special attention to several near-disasters caused by nuclear weapons in the US, primarily [the horrifying 1980 Damascus incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980%5FDamascus%5FTitan%5Fmissile%5Fexplosion?ref=hyperallergic.com). In 2016, that book was turned into [a documentary film](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5598206/?ref=hyperallergic.com) which Schlosser co-wrote. Across these works, he continually underlines how the danger inherent to nuclear weapons drastically overshadows any of their supposed defense advantages. With *the bomb,* he and his collaborators further emphasize how these devices destabilize systems even as they provide an illusion of dominance and control.

As a public health precaution, visits to Pioneer Works can be arranged [by appointment only](https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22003522&ref=hyperallergic.com). The suggested donation to purchase a ticket is $10.

**When**: March 19–May 23  
**Where**: Pioneer Works (159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn)

*More information at* [*Pioneer Works*](https://pioneerworks.org/exhibitions/smriti-keshari-and-eric-schlosser-the-bomb/?ref=hyperallergic.com)