Abandoned nuclear disaster sites are so in right now! Let’s give some credit to HBO for prepping the general public ahead of what’s sure to be a Halloween filled with people dressing as mutants and radioactive waste drums. Certainly, though, the mini-series Chernobyl was groundbreaking for its production value and general dispelling of stereotypes concerning the event.
New York-based artist James Hoff began work on HOBO UFO (v. Chernobyl) prior to the series premiere; but similar to the way that the show painted a mostly realistic picture of the meltdown and its human effects/involvement, so too does this new audio visual project accurately highlight the Ukrainian once-town of Pripyat roughly 33 years after the fact. Turns out there are no mutants, despite personal dreams of an X-Men-like future.
In creating the 15 minute piece, Hoff programmatically tied (with help from Reuben Son) his music to the gestures of Google Street View. You can watch below as the lingering tones soundtrack a Pripyat exploration; the feeling is ultimately a far cry from how terrifying the scene undoubtedly was several decades ago. Right now, all we have are abandoned buildings and nature taking its rightful place in lieu of humanity’s hubris-filled interventions.
There’s no purchasable release associated with this as of now, but Hoff previously released the similarly conceptual Blaster on PAN, and his work overall is quite multidisciplinary in nature. So…let’s just say there’s hope that, some day soon, you’ll be able to relive the apocalyptic dread of of nuclear disaster over and over again, at your own convenience.
Meanwhile:
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