Opening Reception for Raven Chacon's Score for Doomsday Clock

The exhibition features a site-specific sculpture and immersive soundscape inspired by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ iconic Doomsday Clock, which estimates the likelihood of human-made global catastrophe. At the installation’s center, a round table displays sixty wristwatches in varying states of distress; four of Chacon’s signature graphic scores occupy the surrounding gallery walls.

Real-time data on the planetary risks that inform the clock’s annual setting is translated into four streams of sound, corresponding to the Bulletin’s areas of concern: nuclear risk, climate change, biological threats, and disruptive technologies. The work draws historical connections between the University of Chicago’s role in the Manhattan Project and the Trinity nuclear test site near Albuquerque, where Chacon grew up and has spent much of his life.

Interweaving artistic and scientific perspectives with historical records and personal memories, Chacon transforms the Doomsday Clock into a musical instrument powered by the changing nature of existential risk.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Raven Chacon (Diné) received a BA from the University of New Mexico in 2001 and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2004. From 2009 to 2018, he was a member of the art collective Postcommodity. His work has been presented at numerous venues and festivals, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the 2022 Whitney Biennial; the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago; San Francisco Electronic Music Festival; SITE Santa Fe; The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.; Vancouver Art Gallery; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; and Borealis Festival, Bergen, Norway. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2023.