‘Mine are the Dead Spaces': A Discussion of Bunker Work’s Atmospheres, Limits and Routines

Abstract

The abandoned bunker is burdened with dereliction, haunted by catastrophe averted. Yet a repurposed former place-for-war can facilitate a peaceful working afterlife. Here, the nature of this afterlife is considered through curated discussion between those who have worked within and/or who have created across repurposed bunker spaces: Becky Alexis-Martin (an emergency planner turned academic), Michael Mulvihill (an artist), and Kathrine Sandys (a theatre practitioner). An exploratory conversation-based approach is undertaken to reflect the labyrinthine nature of bunkers, with twists and turns as discussants strive to create a collective sense of understanding. Examining atmosphere, light and routines in recreating, reinterpreting and reusing former bunkers, the authors problematize any singular view of enduring place-for-war valence for the bunker’s afterlife. Instead, they propose a bunker continuum to reflect quotidian and dramatic entanglements. Any notion of a segmentation is disrupted, as they realize that war and peace are enmeshed and replicated across time.

KEYWORDS:

• bunker
• nuclear war
• reuse
• illumination
• arts practice
• conversation
• Churchill War Rooms

Notes on contributors

Dr Becky Alexis-Martin is a Lecturer in Human Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her publications include Disarming Doomsday (2019) (Pluto Press), and Geographies of nuclear warfare: future spaces, zones and technologies. (2019) (Edward Elgar Press). She is the Principal Investigator of NCCF funded project Nuclear Families (2016–2019).

Dr Michael Mulvihill is a Human Geographer and Artist at the University of Newcastle. His PhD was entitled Hidden in Plain Sight: the hidden nuclear militarism. He has produced exhibitions and multimedia work, including The Unblinking Eye: 55 Years of Space Operations at RAF Fylingdales at Whitby Museum.

Dr Kathrine Sandys is Head of Theatre Practice and a Principal Lecturer Theatre Practice at the Royal School of Speech and Drama, University of London. Her publications include ‘Sublime Concrete’ in: In the ruins of the Cold War bunker: affect, materiality and meaning-making. (2017) (Rowman & Littlefield).

ORCID

Becky Alexis-Martin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8130-7543

Michael Mulvihill http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8407-8371