Ever since its debut in 1947 to convey the urgent need to avoid nuclear war, the Doomsday Clock has remained a powerful reminder of the destructive forces mankind faces. 

The clock is currently set at two minutes to midnight, the closest it has been to midnight since 1953, which has inspired a virtual reality tour and art exhibit of the history of the Doomsday Clock.

The exhibit, “It is two minutes to midnight,” will be on display at the Weinberg/Newton Gallery in Chicago May 11-19. The exhibit transverses a geopolitical landscape of nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies starting in 1947 through today.

In partnership with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the exhibit presents a unique virtual reality experience by Ellen Sandor and artists Diana Torres, Azadeh Gholizadeh, and Chris Kemp.

Student researchers from the Emerging Analytics Center, Jaimes Krutz and Tanner Marshall, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock helped create the virtual reality experience made in honor of Martyl Langsdorf, the Chicago artist who designed the Doomsday Clock.

The exhibit’s opening reception on May 11 will also double as a book release for “New Media Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts.” Co-edited by Sandor, Donna Cox, and Janine Fron, the book features a chapter about Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, director of the Emerging Analytics Center and interim chair of the Department of Computer Science.

Student researchers at the Emerging Analytics Center worked in conjunction with students from the Art Institute of Chicago and the company ART(n). The exhibit will feature a new product, CAVE-in-a-BOX, currently in development at the Emerging Analytics Center.