Lookout America! is all of the following: a rollicking story populated by an unlikely mix of Hollywood artists, nuclear scientists, and military movers and shakers; a feat of innovative design in its lovingly crafted layout and image curation; the reclamation of a forgotten Cold War archive; and a profound critical reflection on the nature of vision and visuality in an increasingly surveillant state. Hamilton and O’Gorman beautifully use the extraordinary history of the Lookout Mountain Laboratory to critique not just what we saw but more importantly how we saw in the Cold War, and the immense effects that has on our political culture today.
