Abstract
Why be passive about history when you can make some yourself?
The Bulletin is delighted to announce a new contest and a call for entries consisting of designs for displays in a “virtual museum” that will be posted on the Bulletin Web site. It's your opportunity to make a permanent contribution to the magazine's record of the Atomic Age. Plus, we're giving away more than $5,000 in prizes to the best entries!
As Cold War memory fades, we want to commemorate the 18 settings of the hands of the Doomsday Clock. We'd also like to give visitors to the Bulletin's Web site an opportunity to soak in something about the many other events, sights, and sounds one would have encountered at each time the hands of the clock were moved; your display can help accomplish that.
Exactly what kind of entries are we looking for? Well, the main thing is to capture the spirit of the time–the zeitgeist surrounding a single clock change–and to package and present it artfully.
The artwork on page 37 could be presented in a browsable, interactive display like the one above, complete with a tailored CD and CD case (right).
A display can take many forms, so here are a few parameters that will help to guide a contestant's creative instincts. At a minimum, an entry must include a piece of art (an illustration, collage, or a digitally created image) that serves as a central piece around which it is possible to add written, audio, and visual material that show various aspects of one year the clock's setting was changed. Contestants may choose to create a partially or fully interactive multimedia environment for their display.
Not everyone has access to the latest in multimedia tools, so as the contestant, you–or your team, or your class (everyone is eligible)–may describe the elements you would include in an interactive version, or perhaps build some or all of its parts.
For example, take the illustration shown at right–and its appearance in the browser, below. In this sample, the artist has chosen images that take the viewer back to 1960, the year the Doomsday Clock's hands were moved backward–from two to seven minutes to midnight. That move recognized, said Eugene Rabinowitch (the Bulletin's first editor), that the world had grown more cautious about war as a result of understanding how dangerous the U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals had become.
Here the artist proposes (but hasn't actually used the tools to develop) certain types of interactivity. His plan is that by clicking on the individual items in his collage the viewer will learn, among other things, that 1960 was the year first weather satellite was launched, Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won a gold medal at the Olympic games, and Elvis Presley completed his military service (there was a draft at the time) and had two pop songs in the Top 10 before the year was out. Clicking on the “Nixon in November” pin might call up newspaper reports about the election, which might be preceded by a brief film excerpt from the Nixon-Kennedy debates. The artist might also describe or produce a soundtrack to accompany his artwork that included news announcements of significant events, snatches of popular songs, or even snippets from TV commercials.
1960: Seven minutes to midnight.
Getting started
Please visit the Bulletin Web site and click on the clock page (www.thebulletin.org/clock.html) to find a list of the 18 settings of the hands of the Doomsday Clock. Decide which of the years is of the greatest interest to you or to your team, hunt around for historical gems that give the year character, and then put your left brain to work on a gorgeous, original display for the contest.
Your entry must consist, at a minimum, of an entry form, a hard copy of your central display (with your name attached to the back), and a description of your plan for interactivity (if your display is not interactive). An accompanying electronic submission, on a CD or DVD, is encouraged. Digital submissions must be viewable in browser format, and should only require plug-in applications, like Flash, Shockwave, and Quicktime media players.
All entries must be received at the Bulletin offices no later than June 30, 2005. All entries will become the property of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and cannot be returned.
Prizes
Apart from the glory, the individual or team that creates the single best entry will receive a cash prize of $1,500. The winning display for each year will take “second prize”–yes, that means a total of 17 second prizes of $200 each will be awarded. Plus, all winners receive a Bulletin subscription and a T-shirt or mug.
The winners will be announced in the November/December 2005 Bulletin, and the virtual clock museum will be posted on the Bulletin Web site no later than December 5, 2005, the date of the magazine's sixtieth anniversary.
For more information, a complete list of contest rules, and more ideas about possible content, visit the contest Web site at www.thebulletin.org/contest.
Best Picture, The Apartment
Best Actor, Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry
Best Actress, Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8
Best Director, Billy Wilder for The Apartment
Best Editing, Daniel Mandell for The Apartment