Isaiah Bertagnolli (PhD 2025) presented dissertation research on during SAAM's annual fellow's lectures. Bertagnolli discussed Barbara Donachy's "Amber Waves of Grain" (1983), a 35,000 piece model of the US nuclear arsenal made from clay. In his analysis, he described audience emotional reactions to the artwork as logged in viewer comment books, how "Amber Waves of Grain" facilitated social organizing against the arms race, and how the material of fired clay made connections to antinuclear platforms.
You can watch a recording of his lecture on the SAAM's youtube channel, and he is introduced at 32:42.