Departing from personal friendship and reflection, this video letter examines the visual complexity, disenchantment and re-politicization of nuclear detonation imagery in China and beyond. From the 1960s’ military documentary to current fiction films, visual tropes of the first detonation image and the very act of beholding it against the nuclear landscape are playfully teased out. Amid the ecological crises of the Anthropocene, this video letter suggests that in nuclearity we might find radical connections, endurance and friendship.

緣起於友誼與個人反思，這封視頻信件審視中外原子彈圖像的視覺複雜性、袪魅和再政治化。 從 20世紀60年代的軍事紀錄片到當下的虛構電影， 第一次試爆的圖像和在核景觀中對其的觀看被幽默地提取出來。處於人類世的生態危機中，這封視頻信件提示我們，在核中我們可能會發現全新的聯結，持久忍耐以及友誼。

Zimu Zhang is an environmental humanities scholar working on visual culture, eco-cinema and ecofeminist arts, based in Hong Kong. She is an alum of DocNomads Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in documentary filmmaking (2012-2014) and Berlinale talents (2016). Along with her academic research, Zimu also practices filmmaking and curation.