Orford Ness AWRE, Suffolk
Etching with aquatint
48.5x30.5cm
2019
Edition of 50, prints available
Handprinted on 220gsm Fabriano
Orford Ness Atomic Weapons Research Establishment is surrounded by extensive shingle beach dotted with enigmatic rusted metal artefacts, and the occasional deer and loping hare. The entire environment is incredibly eerie.
These distinctive 'pagodas' were built in the 1960s, and are actually Vibration Test Buildings, designed to withstand accidental explosions of up to 400lbs of explosives; the pillars could collapse and the immensely thick platform roof, covered in a mound of shingle, would drop to contain the blast. The Polaris weapons system was tested here.
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