The Doomtown Series...

Doomtown XVIII: See the Little Piggies, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 16" x 16"

Doomtown XVII: The Dance of Death (Blissful Ignorance Mix), 2011, Oil on canvas, 16" x 20" 

Doomtown XVI: For Official Use Only, 2011, Oil on canvas, 30" x 40"

Doomtown XV: Truckee Blast, Bikini Atoll, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 30" x 20"

Doomtown XIV: Swimming at the Last Frontier, 2011, Oil on canvas, 48" x 36"

Doomtown XIII: The Not Living Room, 2011, Oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

Doomtown XII: The Trinity Test, 2011, Oil on canvas, 30 x 40"

 Doomtown XI: The Technicolor Dinner Party 2011, Oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

  Doomtown X: More Mannequins in the Desert: Operation Cue, 2011, Oil on canvas, 48" x 36"

 Doomtown IX: Apple II Sequential House Explosion, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36" 

 Doomtown VIII: Las Vegas Club at night with Atomic Fireball, 2011, Oil on canvas, 36" x 48" 

Doomtown VII: Mushroom Cloud in Glitter Gulch, 2011, Oil on canvas, 30" x 40" 

Doomtown VI: The Sons of Atom, 2010, Oil on canvas, 72" x 48"

Doomtown V: Double Doomtown Diptych, 2010, Oil on canvas, 40" x 30"

Doomtown IV: Downtown Vegas, 1958 with Mushroom Cloud, 2010, Oil on canvas, 48" x 72"

CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY AT THE ATOMIC TESTING MUSEUM IN LAS VEGAS, NEAVDA

Doomtown III: Mannequins in Fallout Shelter (The Nuclear Family), 2010, Oil on canvas, 2010, 30" x 22" 

 Doomtown II: Miss Atomic Bomb, 2010, Oil on canvas, 2010, 36" x 48"

Doomtown I: Mannequins in the Desert (Operation Cue),

2010, Oil on canvas, 2010, 36" x 48"

CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY AT THE ATOMIC TESTING MUSEUM IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

In the 1950's, the U.S. Department of Energy (formerly known as the Atomic Energy Commission)  began testing atomic bombs in the Nevada desert, and America was never the same. These tests rocketed America into what would become known as the Atomic Age - an age of optimism, technological advances and unmitigated paranoia.

One of the parts of the tests at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was the creation of several "Survival Towns" also known as "Doomtowns."  These replica towns were built to see what the effects of the detonation of atomic weapons would have on Anytown, USA.  The houses were furnished and peopled with mannequins.  The photos and film footage that survives from these tests was quite influential on my painting series, also entitled "Doomtown."  The series deals with atomic tests as well as 1950s popular culture.  It is a commentary on a bygone age of American history, and is an effort to bring awareness to a forgotten part of our past.  

“I first became interested in atomic testing while watching some documentaries on the Trinity test and the Nevada Test Site.  I was particularly interested in the “survival towns” built by the department of energy.  These were recreations of what was considered to be the quintessential American town, populated by mannequins, and then lit up by atomic blasts to see what the effects would be. I couldn’t get that idea out of my head.  There was so much potential symbolism there.  The projected identities of the mannequins, the psychological effects of seeing human analogs destroyed by atomic blasts, all of it captivated me.  It was also a slice of society that has passed us by.  Many people are not aware of the details of what actually occurred during the tests.  That’s one of the driving forces behind my work – educating the public.  I don’t want to take a political view on the morality of atomic testing – people already know what to think of that.  I want to take this little known aspect of our history as a world power and shed a little light on it – that’s all.”

Doug Waterfield is an Arkansas native currently residing in the great plains of Nebraska with his family.  He is an associate professor of art at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.  His work has been shown nationally for the past 25 years. 

He is currently exhibiting at the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada and the National Nuclear Science Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.



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