Nuclear Ostrich

War, the threat of war, especially that in a nuclear form, obsessed Philip. He felt strongly about the inherent danger of nuclear energy and the potential threat it posed to all he held dear.

When he was about six years old he had seen a film of the atom bomb cloud. Ever since then, he had felt that its distinctive shape symbolised the menace it presented to the civilized world and especially to his family. His emotional response was in The Nuclear Ostrich. He wrote:

" It occurred to me some time ago that the image of the ostrich burying its head in the sand when danger threatens is analogous, visually and morally, to the threat of the nuclear cloud. The development of nuclear power is probably not the wisest pursuit of man when one considers what can go wrong if an atomic pile becomes unstable. As well as this, what about all the harmful waste products that are being dumped as a lethal legacy for our future generations? I hope that the shape and absurd posture of my piece of work will awaken people to consider alternative sources of power. "
'The Nuclear Ostrich' by Philip Betts [40x20x20cm]

At the time of his death, Philip was working on a sculpture of the 'Third World War'. A sketch he made depicts two figures, not blowing each other to pieces with sophisticated nuclear weapons, but armed primitively with spears. Each has mortally wounded the other. The message was simple: 'No-one wins, it would be pure attrition'.

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