89 Seconds to Morning

89 Seconds to Morning is a project that synthesizes my thoughts on our nuclear past, present, and future. Touching mostly on the Cold War and Space Race eras, I wanted to create something that helps me come to terms with our prospects, and the feelings I have that may or may not be shared with others around me. I’ve always had an odd fascination with space, the Cold War, and human audacity and will, and this project acts somewhat as a culminating checkpoint. The book is divided into chapters that discuss the Apollo 11 landing, humanity’s gall in the creation and involvement in nuclear war, along with the use of the same technology in interplanetary space travel, Artists Against the Bomb, and a conclusory section that (I hope) maintains a positive perspective of our future. Like a journal, most of the writing in the book is free-flowing, and though based on much research, is quite opinionated with an air of levity. 

My intention with this project isn’t to be a place to learn an objective timeline of our nuclear history — it’s more so a diary that lives within our current time from the perspective of someone who isn’t a scientist or politician, in a space that other spectators are a part of as well. The book exists within a living room similar to one from the late 1960’s which references what people were part of when watching events like the Moon Landing or Kennedy’s Rice Speech. Accompanying the project is Brian Eno’s Apollo 11 album to reinforce this atmospheric ambience. The title, 89 Seconds to Midnight, is in reference to the Doomsday Clock piece, 89 Seconds to Midnight, that projects how close we are to the irreversible effects of climate change, AI, and nuclear technology. Though the topic is somewhat anxiety-inducing, I want 89 Seconds to Morning to be a place where we can revel in our smallness within the universe and