Art-Based Nuclear Outreach Proves Successful

We here at PopAtomic have been formulating ways to use art to effectively reach young people with critical information about nuclear energy for some time now. I am excited to report that our first major Educational Outreach effort at Chattahoochee Technical College in Atlanta confirmed our theory that art can make learning about nuclear energy a fun and empowering experience.

As a part of their Service Learning Program for Introduction to Sociology, students watched a presentation about nuclear energy and art, then participated in making art that transformed negative imagery associated with nuclear into positive imagery. During the art making process students were encouraged to discuss the role of energy creation and consumption in the context of Sociology. Specifically we touched on how a viable clean energy source such as nuclear has come to be so misunderstood as well as ways we can change those misperceptions.

I think it is fair to say that I learned as much as the students during this program. Most had very little knowledge of nuclear energy and were grateful to be introduced to some basic facts. Essentially all of the students from the three classes I spoke to are now ready and equipped to have a meaningful discussion about energy outside of the classroom. I was amazed at how receptive and creative these students were in approaching this challenging subject.

Starting our Educational Outreach efforts in Atlanta was not coincidental. We hope to cultivate strong support of nuclear energy in Georgia as the Vogtle Electrical Generating Plant expands, especially among young people and the arts community. These efforts will be followed up by continued speaking engagements at Chattahoochee Technical College, as well as collaborative efforts with the Georgia Tech Student American Nuclear Society, leading up to an art exhibit to open in Atlanta during the 2011 Student Conference in April. And we may have just discovered a few more artists to participate in the exhibition!

To my my surprise not a single student tried to use the “I’m not creative” excuse that often comes out when you ask adults to make art. I wonder if it was because there was a sense of purpose behind the art making? Maybe this was just an exceptional group of people? Either way the art work that came out of this program is truly incredible. I will conclude with some images of student work that will really make you smile! Next up on my speaking tour: Idaho National Lab on Tuesday and University of North Carolina Asheville in September.

There’s so much amazing student work that we will have to share it over a series of posts and through our Facebook page. A special thanks to Leigh Keever for inviting us to speak to her classes, and to her wonderful students for accepting this challenge with creative and open minds.


-Suzanne Hobbs, 8/20/2010
( http://www.popatomic.org/ )

If you want to be a part of a meaningful environmental movement, learn about energy

Last week in London members of Greenpeace attempted to shut down several dozen BP stations in protest of their handling of the oil spill. Consequently, commuters couldn’t get gas and there were traffic jams and upset citizens, but I would venture to say that BP didn’t bat an eye. So, I wonder what the goal of their actions really was? If you want to send a message to a corporation, why would you choose to focus on punishing the consumer rather than going straight to the source? And what was achieved? Nothing, really.

I feel hugely disappointed that so many educated “environmentalists” can’t come up with anything better than running amuck when it comes to solutions to the energy crisis. In fact, these days, Greenpeace isn’t really for anything. They are, however, against almost everything. When was environmentalism reduced to bad behavior and whining? We are all adults here, right?

So after some serious contemplation I started to wonder how much the average person actually knows about energy. How it is produced, what resources it requires, and the long-term environmental impact of different energy sources. Then I started asking people, and as it turns out we are collectively lacking basic knowledge about our own consumption. This is especially bad when you consider that 25% of the world’s population uses 75% of the resources, and we American’s are not on the sympathy-deserving side of that equation. So, energy-we take it for granted, we use it all up and we destroy the environment. Then we complain about it and run amuck and never make any changes-really?

Another disconnect in our understanding of energy is with regards to renewable sources. These provide less than 1% of our energy in this country. This is not because they are not getting funding, subsidies and lots of public support- they get more of those things than any other energy source. Renewables don’t make that much energy, because renewables simply, by nature, don’t make that much energy. That’s right. I said it. Wind turbines only produce electricity when it’s windy and solar panels when it’s sunny. And despite the added complications of constant flux, even if they were consistent, renewables still don’t make enough energy to put a dent in our consumption.

Coal and nuclear are consistent, which is why we use them for base load power. Wind and solar are novelty energy sources. You would never use them to power, say New York City. It would be a disaster. Rolling blackouts. Not good. You can only use something that won’t stop working no matter what. Again it boils down to coal and nuclear. So coal kills 24,000 Americans annually, nuclear energy has never killed an American. That fact alone should make the decision easy, but there is more. Coal is destroying our environment and nuclear releases zero emissions.
Nuclear gets better and better the more you know about it. For instance, what used to be called “waste” is now called fuel. Reprocessing allows us to recycle nuclear fuel, reducing the amount and radioactivity of real waste, which is easily stored on site because it is super small. Nuclear materials are dense, so they don’t take up much space. In fact your entire lifetime energy waste if you only consumed nuclear energy would fit in a drinking glass. That seems much more reasonable than the tons and tons of CO2 that every America releases into the atmosphere annually.

And Three Mile Island was proof that even our oldest plants can successfully contain a meltdown. It’s good to know, but since that accident security and training at nuclear plants has increased exponentially, so there’s not much of a chance of it happening again. Not to mention that new nuclear technologies are sleek and small, with even more intrinsic safety measures.

Are you reconsidering what you thought were the “facts” about energy yet? Well, if not I would consider learning more about energy in general. If we are ever going to overcome the surmounting environmental problems we are facing we are will to have to stop running amuck and complaining, and start actively supporting smart solutions. We may not have created this problem, but it’s ours now and it’s going to require drastic measures to conserve this planet.


-Suzanne Hobbs, 7/29/2010
To learn more, visit us at: ( http://www.popatomic.org/ )

Exploring the Relationship between Fine Art and Nuclear Energy

I have long wondered why traditional advertising has not been well utilized to promote nuclear energy in America. The conclusion that I have come to is that the science, history and plethora of social issues surrounding nuclear are far too complicated to be summed up in a 30 second commercial or half page ad. This has led me to wonder what can effectively give context to the intricacies and benefits of nuclear in todays culture…and not surprisingly, I realized that Fine Art offers an equally sophisticated solution.

As an art student I became interested in religious icons, archetypes and mythology, specifically the role that art plays in the way that we understand ourselves and our purpose in this world (too much Joseph Campbell!). It is incredible to think of all of the meaning that a simple image can carry and how much it can influence our daily lives. For instance, the Spiral references the golden ratio, the double helix of DNA, change, motion, galaxies, evolution, connectedness. The Cross carries with it thousands of years of history, a cast of hundreds of characters and just as many stories that still inform contemporary issues today. A simple icon really can shift the way we understand the world, give us a sense of direction, and carry volumes of complex information.

So how can the power of the icon be applied to nuclear energy? Well lucky for us there are already a handful of powerful symbols associated with nuclear, although their meanings are not always positive. First there is the mushroom cloud, while is obvious to pro-nukes that weapons and energy are completely separate endeavors, most American do not have clear deliniation between the two. The fear of nuclear warfare, I believe, is a major contributing factor to the lack of support for nuclear energy. So, in developing new imagery, we try to use clean simple lines and bright colors to represent nuclear energy, in sharp contrast to the billowing grey mushroom cloud image.

My favorite, the Cooling Tower, is another powerful icon. This one is funny because not only do some coal plants also use cooling towers, but many nuclear plants use other cooling methods than towers. For whatever reason the cooling tower has stuck (I blame it on ‘The Simpons’ but that is a whole other post). Not only are we utilizing the cooling tower image in our design work, but eventually we hope to physically transform a cooling tower into a new icon by staining it with a fun new design. People, especially Americans like things to be big, and physically creating an icon in this way assures it will be reproduced in pictures, TV, online, etc. A project of this scale is venturing into the realm of the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower, which is a sure fire way to bring positive attention to nuclear energy.

The atomic symbol is a favorite among pro-nukes and has already been done a million different ways, but there is nothing wrong with classic, and repetition is key when you are talking icons.

And while utilizing and transforming exisiting icons, we are also creating new ones. Here is an image sent in by Caleb Horn, a nuclear energy and art enthusiast, that utilizes an existing cultural icon for energy and associates it with nuclear.

Thanks Caleb!

So, if my philosophical meandering are on point, art might be the perfect companion for nuclear energy as it enters the next phase of its history as the energy source that offers timely solutions to our biggest problems.


To learn more of my contemporary energy solutions, check out my site: 
http://www.popatomic.org/

-Suzanne Hobbs, 7/21/2010