"Eat My Fallout" Graffiti, Wendover Air Base, Utah Possibly 1988 - 1995

Richard Misrach captured "Eat My Fallout" at Wendover Air Base, Utah. The image shows graffiti of a mushroom cloud with the defiant phrase emblazoned across it, a stark visual commentary on nuclear threat. This image, created during the Cold War, carries strong cultural references to the fear of nuclear annihilation. Wendover Air Base, once a training site for WWII bomber pilots, became a relic of military history, haunted by the shadow of atomic warfare. Misrach’s photograph captures how the anxieties of the nuclear age seeped into the very walls of American institutions, transforming a site of military pride into a canvas for anti-nuclear sentiment. The graffiti, crude yet powerful, critiques the military-industrial complex. Understanding this image requires considering the institutional history of places like Wendover, alongside the social movements opposing nuclear proliferation. Art like this serves as a poignant reminder of collective fears and the human impulse to challenge dominant power structures.