Korte beschrijving/Annotatie

Klara and the Bomb connects the invention of modern computers, the history of nuclear weapons and the narratives of the women involved.

Tekst achterflap

Klara and the Bomb is a photographical and historical work that charts connecting threads between the invention of modern computers, the history of nuclear weapons and, in particular, the narratives of the women involved. These interconnected stories are told through the little-known life of Klara von Neumann. As one of the first computer programmers, Klara’s story highlights the extent to which women were involved in the development of both computing and nuclear weapons from the 1940s onwards. Artist Crystal Bennes (US) combines fieldwork images with archival research, declassified papers, military propaganda, historical images and an extensive textual narrative to bring these stories to life.

Slogan/Promotie

Klara and the Bomb is a photographical and historical work that charts connecting threads between the invention of modern computers, the history of nuclear weapons and, in particular, the narratives of the women involved. These interconnected stories are told through the little-known life of Klara von Neumann. As one of the first computer programmers, Klara’s story highlights the extent to which women were involved in the development of both computing and nuclear weapons from the 1940s onwards. Artist Crystal Bennes (US) combines fieldwork images with archival research, declassified papers, military propaganda, historical images and an extensive textual narrative to bring these stories to life.

Biografie

Crystal Bennes (US) is an American artist and writer based in Scotland. Her practice is grounded in long- term projects which foreground archival research, durational fieldwork and material experimentation. Recent bodies of work include a photo essay on an artificial island made of radioactive, industrially-produced fertiliser waste and a weed garden exploring a nineteenth-century myth of accidental plant migration from Italy to Denmark. She recently completed a practice-based PhD on histories of gendered representations of nature in the sciences and feminist critiques of physics.

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