Behnam Raeesian is an internationally recognized visual artist and poster designer from Iran, known for bold political and cultural works. Through exhibitions, workshops, jury roles, and collaborations with cultural institutions worldwide, he has built a strong voice in contemporary political graphic design. His projects confront complex issues such as nuclear risk and technological impact, transforming them into impactful visual narratives that foster dialogue and awareness. This poster, called “Authorized Noise”, uses the visual language of a gramophone to reflect on the normalization of nuclear power and nuclear threat.

Traditionally, a gramophone plays music — something cultural, familiar, and repetitive. In this image, the vinyl record is replaced by a nuclear radiation symbol, turning the device into a metaphor for how existential danger is no longer heard as an alarm, but processed as background sound.
The work is about the moment when danger becomes familiar — when nuclear power, risk, and violence are no longer perceived as urgent warnings, but as something socially authorized, regulated, and absorbed into everyday life. What once demanded attention now plays continuously, approved by systems of power.
“Authorized Noise” points to the way institutions transform catastrophic risk into something manageable and culturally acceptable — no longer a disruption, but a signal that is allowed to continue.