Hey, hi, and hello. Welcome back to my blog where not all those who wander are lost (J.R.R Tolkien). In this post I will be continuing on the topic of historical significance and the Manhattan Project. I will also be adding in the idea of conceptual art and how we used it to convey different perspectives on what we learned throughout this project. Now lets dive in.

Near the beginning of this project we focused on historical significance and what makes something significant. Our main assignment for that section of the project was to take a historical event and create a post. You can find that post at [this link]. Along with learning about the Manhattan project we were assigned to read a book called “Hiroshima”. We participated in Socratic seminars and posed questions as we read. At the end we wrote a post of our opinion on the book. You can find that post at [this link].

Just like every project we have a driving question, however in this project we had 3 sub questions. One for historical significance, one for the bomb, and one for conceptual art. I was able to answer the first two in my past two posts however i still need to answer the third and the driving question. 

Now to answer the conceptual art question (How can we express ideas through art?) I need to talk and reflect on our trip to downtown. In the middle of November we went to two museums. I went into this project thinking that conceptual isn’t art and that it is pointless. After experiencing the Yoko Ono exhibit my feelings changed. I now think that conceptual art is art, however i still dislike ready made art. With this new view i am more able to answer the question. I think that the best way to express ideas with art is to add some sort of element to the piece that will keep the viewers wondering so that they will try to find the meaning, idea, or concept behind the piece. 

To answer the driving (How did the development of the atomic bomb change the world?) I will explain me and Fraser’s project. For winter exhibition we had to create a piece of conceptual art, either on our own or in groups. Our art piece had to somehow reflect an aspect of the Manhattan project and to fit under one of four categories. Politics and warfare, ethics and morals, technology and science, and society. Fraser and me created a piece that was balloons filled with sand suspended above pins creating the idea of tension and anxiety that the balloons could pop at any moment just like how nuclear weapons could be fired off at any moment. Each balloon is filled with the same amount of sand to represent that each balloon has the same amount of impact however the bigger balloon the more of an obvious threat compared to the smaller balloons. The closer to the pins the balloons are the closer to the decision to set of the weapons. 

In conclusion I think that the development of the atomic bomb has made nations more cautious towards other nations with not knowing if they posses these weapons or not. Over the years with new developments in technology the tension and anxiety grows between nations. I quite enjoyed having the three different sub questions in this project and i think it helped build up to answering the driving question.