Body Burden

Body Burden takes the form of a glovebox, a sealed enclosure used at Rocky Flats to handle radioactive materials and limit exposure to the body and the environment. The viewer can activate the lights inside the box, illuminating a glove reaching upward. When the light is turned off, an image of a child becomes visible through the glove, glowing softly before disappearing.  

The title, Body Burden, refers to the cumulative amount of radioactive material absorbed and retained in the human body after exposure. At Rocky Flats, this burden extended beyond plant workers to nearby communities, as plutonium released during accidents and routine handling of radioactive and hazardous materials spread contamination throughout the surrounding environment.

The figure depicts a child named Kristin who lived in Arvada when a large plutonium fire erupted from a glovebox at Rocky Flats and spread contamination beyond the plant's boundaries. Her image stands as a remembrance of her life and of the many lives beyond the plant’s boundaries that have been shaped by proximity rather than participation.