After seeing Mick Brodericks’ exhibit Nuke York, New York, I was really impressed with the amount of research that he has done on the subject. I learned that he travels around the world to collect his material, and he even resorts to ebay to look for vintage art. His dedication to the subject of obvious, and it was clear in his lecture that he was passionate about the end of the world.

As a New Yorker, for some odd reason there is nothing more we enjoy than seeing our city torn to shreds. As soon as I see a devastated New York in a movie poster or trailer, my desire to see said media becomes unbearable. I never really considered why this sort of destruction appealed to me. I loved Brodericks’ theory that the reason we are drawn to this type of entertainment is because it would help us return to a life not bound by society and rules; it would force humans to go back to a primitive lifestyle. Our lives are so completely controlled in today’s world that it might be refreshing to have to start it all over again.

I also really appreciated learning about the origins of a nuked New York. Broderick told us that after the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, the following day the cover of many New York Papers compared the devastation in Hiroshima compared to what would happen in New York. This helped put into perspective how damaging nuclear weapons for the public. The reason that New York is often shown in disaster movies is because it has arguably the most iconic skyline that represents power and success; if New York falls, we can be sure that the rest of the world would soon follow.