Public defence, Contemporary Art, MFA Aurora Del Rio

Title of the thesis: Archetypes of nuclearity. An artistic inquiry into belief systems

Thesis defender: Aurora Del Rio 
Opponent: Prof. Paul Thomas, University of New South Wales, Australia
Custos: Prof. Laura Beloff, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

This dissertation examines collective realities of nuclearity and radioactive heritage practices, from the perspective of an art practitioner, by exploring how systems of belief influence the creation of deep-future imaginaries, to answer the research question: How do belief systems operate in shaping societal visions of the possible in the context of nuclearity?

My research unfolds by articulating my concept of the Sun-archetype: with this concept I understand a way of knowing that does not translate into knowledge as an outcome. My central hypothesis states that the notion of the archetype can be used to explain how systems of belief enacted through myths, symbols, and root metaphors negotiate tensions between what is considered “possible” and what is considered “impossible” from the perspective of techno-scientific conceptions of reality. 

This dissertation takes a specific focus on nuclear technologies. Varying from Gabrielle Hecht’s (2012) definition of “nuclearity” as what is technopolitically considered “nuclear,” I understand nuclearity as what people experience when confronted by nuclear things. I use the term “belief” to describe how implicit theoretical stances, or worldviews, guide human actions with a tendency to remain unquestioned. Through the notions of disenchantment and re-enchantment in relation to technology generally, and nuclear technologies specifically, I aim to examine how the “possible” may influence societal expectations of these technologies. At the same time, I explore the way nuclear technologies influence how belief systems determine what is possible, by creating social realities and the imaginaries that relate to them.

Throughout this dissertation, the archetype as an abstract conception becomes embodied in my image of the Sun archetype: what I define as an archetype of nuclearity. In this image, I view the Sun (the celestial body) as a nuclear object that overlaps with the Sun as an object of adoration, through an analysis of how this applies to nuclearity. Part of the research is carried out through artistic explorations: through three case studies, I examine different entanglements between belief and nuclearity, to raise the question of ontology, of what a description of reality means, both in nuclear energy practices and in quantum theory. The case studies, developed through artistic research, explore nuclear infrastructures through systematic attempts to investigate these entanglements, often using collaborative practices, “ritual patterns,” and practices of translation as a method. Two concepts will be invoked to support the argument that the archetype can challenge ideas of the “possible” in relation to nuclearity: Laura Beloff’s (2020) definition of “hybrid ecology,” developed in the arts to describe human-made complex systems of newly emerging organisms and synthetic components, and the term “nuclear natures” (Marila et al., 2024), a new category of environments shaped and altered by nuclear technologies.

Keywords: archetype, artistic research, failure of knowing, impossible, nuclearity, nuclear heritage, quantum ontology, ritual patterns

Thesis available for public display 7 days prior to the defence at Aalto University's public display page.