This work visualises the political concept of ‘mutually assured destruction’, the idea that one first strike with a nuclear weapon involves the ultimate destruction of both sides. A form of nuclear deterrence, the concept has been normalised and fictionalised in pop culture in films like ‘Dr. Strangelove’ that ends with a montage of many nuclear explosions and the end of the world.

Of nuclear weapons, Kennard states: “Nuclear powers now are actually talking about limited nuclear war and the technical possibilities of a first strike are increasing. They’re making what they call ‘bunker nuclear weapons’ that are small enough to use they reckon, which is complete madness. The actual madness of the development of nuclear weapons is so horrific and could lead to accidents, or what they call a ‘nuclear exchange,’ which is a wonderful way of talking about the end of the world or Armageddon.”

For ‘Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)’ (1982), Kennard used an iconic image of the earth taken from one of the Apollo space missions. When first searching for the image, Kennard went to a number of picture agencies, who all said they had it and that he would have to pay. Kennard contacted NASA instead, who confirmed no one owned the image as it was out of copyright.