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About KARF

 

Kanobis Amplifier Research Facility (KARF) is an installation artwork by Steve Storz (see stevestorz.com for more images). KARF is an outdoor installation set in New Mexico (and soon Southern California), surrounded by sage bushes, cactus and chamisa plants, under the vast blue sky of the southwest. Although KARF was not intended as an historical re-creation, it is a manifestation of my imaginings of the covert and inaccessible science industry of New Mexico , Southern California and other regions, particularly during the period of time when Los Alamos National Laboratories and Groom Lake were initially established. My mind conjured its own version of what was going on with all the roads, special vehicles, water tanks, electrical power plants, and secretive people who were part of  starting those labs. What was going on behind those tall and dangerous fences, windowless buildings, and spread-out installations with their stoic guard shacks? Over the years my own installation formed in mind. I reflected on the historical materials I would gather as I imagined the rudimentary structures of the first facilities in Los Alamos. I explored the work-shed of Robert Goddard, where he developed his first rockets in Roswell. I researched the early attempts to establish “technology clusters” in the Albuquerque area. KARF is a manifestation of my fantasies built around those technologies and infrastructures. 

Shed 1

research station 1 and Admin 

Station 2 (Detail)
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