Between Fear and Fascination: the Narrative of Atomic Age Design

Keywords: Atomic Age, design, design perception, design psychology, 1960s

Abstract

This text aims to show, through the prism of design, two diametrically opposed narratives about nuclear potential, which coexisted in the United States from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. The first one was the fascination with atomic energy, which was the genesis of futuristic visions of the future, seen in the aesthetics of the design of the time. The second one was the fear of the consequences of a potential nuclear attack, when the main field of design was the design of shelters. Based on a selection of examples, the text will attempt to answer the question of whether the design of the atomic era can be divided according to the simple scheme of fascination and fear, or whether a more multidimensional picture of American society and its view of design will emerge from it.

Author Biography

Anna Wiśnicka, Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie

Historyczka sztuki i designu, absolwentka KUL, autorka monografii Simo Heikkila – Designer’s Life and Work wydanej pod patronatem honorowym Ambasady Finlandii w Warszawie oraz publikacji z dziedziny wzornictwa, sztuki nowoczesnej i architektury. Adiunkt na WNH UKSW oraz zastępczyni redaktor naczelnej rocznika „Załącznik Kulturoznawczy”.

References

Abercrombie, S. (2000). George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design. Cambridge, MA and London: The MIT Press.

Alac, P. (2012). Bikini Story: A Cultural History. New York: Parkstone Press International.

Boyler, P. (1994). By the Bomb’s Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press.

Corn, J.J. i Horrigan, B. (1984). Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Correll, J.T. (2014). Fear of Fallout. Air Force Magazine, nr 4(97), 64–69.

Cronin, J.G.R. (2017). Fear Thy Neighbour: Merton and the 1961 Shelter Scare. The Merton Journal, nr 2(24), 61–68.

Davis, Ch. (1961). Gun Thy Neighbor? Time, 18.08.1961, 60.

Davis, H.M. (1964). We Enter the New Era – the Atomic Age. The New York Times, 12.08.1945, 3.

Fallout Shelters: You Could be Among the 97% to Survive If You Follow the Advice in This Article (1961). Life Magazine, 16.09.1961, 95.

Garner, Ph. (2008). Sixties Design. Hong Kong–London–Köln: Taschen.

Gracian, M. (2019). Shrouded in Darkness: The Lasting Effects of Las Vegas’s Atomic Age on American Popular Culture. The American Papers 2019– 2020, nr 38/2020, 115–127.

Hauffe, Th. (1998). Design. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Heimann J. (2015). Mid-Century Ads. Köln: Taschen.

Hesse, M. (2017). This nuclear fallout shelter was untouched for 55 years. It might come in handy now. The Washington Post, 18.10.2017. Pozyskano z: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-school-fallout-shelter-was-untouched-for-55-years-it-might-come-in-handy-now/2017/ 10/17/6b3dfe90-b295-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html (dostęp: 12.01.2022).

Kirkham, P. (2018). Charles and Ray Eames: Serious Play, Serious Pleasure. W: M. Obniski i D. Alfred (red.), Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

McGoey, E. (red.) (2016). American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago Press.

Monteyne, D. (2011). Fallout Shelter: Designing for Civil Defense in the Cold War. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Mooallem, S. (2017). Pop Goes Bazaar. Harper’s Bazaar USA, nr 04/2017. Pozyskano z: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a9956837/ harpers-bazaar-in-1960s (dostęp: 17.02.2022).

Morello, S. (2020). No Longer, Not Yet: Retrofuture Hauntings on The Jetsons. De Genere. Journal of Literary, Postcolonial and Gender Studies, nr 6, 113–127.

Piech, P.P. (1958). Advertising Art in the Atomic Age. The Penrose Annual, nr 52/1958, 7–10.

Raizman, D. (2003). History of Modern Design: Graphics and Products Since the Industrial Revolution. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Rhodes, R. (2012). The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Schleibach M. (2015). “In Case Atom Bombs Fall”: An Anthology of Governmental Explanations, Instructions and Warnings from the 1940s to the 1960s. London: Jefferson.

Stayton, K. (2001). Introduction. W: B. Rapaport i K. Stayton (red.), Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age, 1940–1960. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers.

The Family fallout shelter (1959). Washington: Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization Press.

Vaughan Lee, H. (2019). Artifacts from American Fashion. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC–CLIO Publishing.

Zeman, S.C. (2012). “To See … Things Dangerous to Come to”: Life Magazine and the Atomic Age in the United States, 1945–1965. W: D. van Lente (red.), The Nuclear Age in Popular Media. Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Published
2022-06-29
How to Cite
[1]
Wiśnicka, A. 2022. Between Fear and Fascination: the Narrative of Atomic Age Design. Perspectives on Culture. 37, 2 (Jun. 2022), 223-236. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2022.3702.15.