MLA Thesis
The Polygon [Unveiling of]
The Soviet nuclear testing program is one of the best examples of blatant disregard for social and environmental well-being in service of expression of power. Invisible radioactive contamination, lack of regulations, marginalized communities, and permanently altered ecology set the stage for a new type of landscape identity. This thesis focuses on reconnecting the people of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site with the land that has been lost by re-imagining it as a national park. Through the implementation of landscape markers based on a theoretical framework of land art as infrastructure, the landscape is revealed, empowering the semi-nomadic lifestyle of people indigenous to the region.