From Meteorite to Trinite:

(1) Using fire and force, a nail was forged using a meteorite 
found in Arizona’s Barringer crater- one of a kind. The ‘Canyon Diablo 
meteorite’ fell from the sky some 50,000 years ago creating a creator 
1 km wide. The equivalent of 150 atomic bombs. 

(2) Through a process of casting 1943 steel pennies a second nail was formed. These pennies also known as “war pennies” were made of zinc-
coated steel, as the copper was needed for ammunition. Melted pennies 
were poured into a graphite mold alluding to notions of mass production 
and the multiple. 

(3) A third nail was born by re-fusing Trinitite, a glassy residue was 
left on the desert floor after the first atomic test at the Trinity 
site in New Mexico.  This slightly radioactive material points to this 
moment when humans eclipsed their mark on the earth.  Everything 
that has grown on the earth’s surface from this point forward is in-scribed with what scientists call the isotopic fingerprint 
- a permanent record of this event. 

(1)
FORGE

(2)
CAST

Forge: c.1300, “to make, shape, create,” from Old French forgier, from Latin fabricari “to frame, construct, build,” from fabrica “workshop”. Meaning “to counterfeit”. Forged; forging. To form (metal, for example) by heating in a forge and beating or hammering into shape.

CAST:
To throw something forcefully in a specific direction or to cause (light or shadow) to appear on a surface. (1) : to assign the parts of (a dramatic production) to actors (2) to assign (as an actor) to a role or part <was cast in the leading role>
To give a shape to (a substance) by pouring in liquid or plastic form into a mold and letting harden without pressure <cast steel>.
To cause to move or send forth by throwing <cast a fishing lure>.
To direct <cast a glance>
To put forth <the fire casts a warm glow> <cast light on the subject>.
To cast doubt on their reliability.

Eclipse: the partial or complete interception of the light of one component of a binary star by the other. to make less outstanding or important by comparison; surpass: derived from the ancient Greek noun (ékleipsis), which means “the abandonment”, “the downfall”, or “the darkening of a heavenly body”, which is derived from the verb ἐκλείπω (ekleípō) which means “to abandon”, “to darken”, or “to cease to exist,” a combination of prefix ἐκ- (ek-), from preposition ἐκ (ek), “out,” and of verb λείπω (leípō), “to be absent”.

Cast: To throw something forcefully in a specific direction or to cause (light or shadow) to appear on a surface. (1) : to assign the parts of (a dramatic production) to actors (2) to assign (as an actor) to a role or part <was cast in the leading role>
a : to give a shape to (a substance) by pouring in liquid or plastic form into a mold and letting harden without pressure <cast steel> a : to cause to move or send forth by throwing <cast a fishing lure> b : direct <cast a glance>
c (1) : to put forth <the fire casts a warm glow> <cast light on the subject> (2) : to place as if by throwing <cast doubt on their reliability>

About:

For Want of a Nail engages New Mexico’s complex nuclear history as it relates to land use, resource extraction and the breadth of decisions that were made within the Manhattan Project.

Two inter-office memoranda found at the Los Alamos Historical Museum guide the process and form. Sent from Dr. Robert Oppenheimer’s (lead physicist of the Manhattan Project) office in 1943 these memoranda describe a table for his office and a nail to hang his hat.  The persistence and specificity of a request for a nail for Mr. Oppenheimer’s hat (mentioned in both memorandum) inspired Futurefarmers to hesitate in this peculiar moment.

A series of sculptures, video and photographs provide an arc of inquiry into moments when humans have eclipsed their knowledge and power.

By forging, casting and fusing a range of materials a series of three nails emerged. The choice of materials used to make these nails mines the history of tool making from the pre-historic use of meteorites as tools to the material by-products of such events as the testing of the atomic bomb.

The process began by procuring a Meteorite found in Canyon Diablo, Arizona. Using fire and force, the first nail was forged- one of a kind. A second nail was made through a process of casting 1943 steel pennies. These pennies also known as “war pennies” were made of only steel, as the copper was needed for ammunition. These pennies were melted and poured into a graphite mold alluding to notions of mass production and the multiple.  A third nail was made by fusing Trinitite, a material that was formed by the heat from the atomic bomb test whereby sand was drawn up inside the fireball itself and then rained down in a liquid form and resulted as a glassy residue left on the desert floor. Everything that grew on the earth’s surface from this point forward was inscribed with what scientists call the isotopic fingerprint - a permanent record of this event.

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The latin root of memorandum is “a thing to be remembered” or “to keep in mind”.