CROSSROADS
- Artist: Bruce Conner
- Date: 1976
- Medium: Film, 35mm, shown as video, high definition, projection, black and white, and sound (surround)
- Dimensions: duration: 37min, 35sec
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “CROSSROADS” by Bruce Conner, a 37‑minute black‑and‑white film that plays in high‑definition on a screen with surround sound. The footage comes from the 1946 Operation Crossroads tests at Bikini Atoll—specifically the second detonation, codenamed Baker—captured on 300 cameras that surrounded the atoll. Conner stitches those archival shots into a rapid‑cut montage, intercutting them with his own 16‑mm footage. The result feels like a cinematic weather report of a nuclear blast, slowed and magnified for the viewer. Two soundtracks layer the image: a pulsing synthesizer by Patrick Gleeson and a minimalist organ piece by Terry Riley. The piece is a hallmark of Conner’s avant‑garde practice, blending found imagery, experimental editing and sonic abstraction. It was gifted to the D.Daskalopoulos Collection in 2023 and has been screened worldwide, from Paris to New York to San Francisco. Watching it is a visceral reminder of the power—and fragility—of technology.
See it in person
CROSSROADS is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
