All Photos © Simon Roberts. Above: “Stars and Stripes, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
Simon Roberts’s “Desert Blast” series offers an insider’s look into a secret gathering of pyrotechnic enthusiasts that took place in the Nevada desert. The event, known as Desert Blast, was “an exercise in radical protest involving high explosives, homemade bombs and c-grade fireworks,” says Roberts. His work comments on how individuals’ civil liberties have changed on a cultural and political level in post-9-11 America.
In 2008 the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago exhibited a group show of artists offering diverse perceptions of the United States. The exhibition explored the cultural climate of America, reflecting on the polarizing issues the nation was experiencing at that time: the complicated and messy War On Terror as well as battles over immigration, security, abortion and economics. Curator Karen Irvine described the artists work as demonstrating “that our nation’s character is not tribal, but rather it is a constantly shifting confluence of traditions, stereotypes and opinions, as understood from both within the country and from the outside.”
The exhibition included work from two series by Roberts, “Desert Blast” (1999) and “Winter Blast” (2002).
-courtesy Simon Roberts
Large Glitter Maroon Flash, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999″ Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Spectators, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Flares and Fire Pit, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Flame Thrower, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Red Flare, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Head Explosion, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
Desert Fusion, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999″ Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Pyro Boy, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
“Streamers, Desert Blast, Nevada, 1999” Lambda print. Courtesy the artist and Klompching Gallery, New York.
