Die brennende Insel nebenan [The Burning Island Next Door]
Paintings | 2011
Funded by the Kreativfonds
In her work »Die brennende Insel nebenan« [The Burning Island Next Door], the artist Saori Kaneko examines the recent nuclear catastrophe in Japan and the omnipresent threat of nuclear energy. For us humans, natural phenomena are not always wondrous.
The horrible catastrophe in Japan on 11 March 2011 is still present in the minds of all Japanese and especially Kaneko as a native of Japan herself. Not only did the tsunami kill more than 16,000 people, what is more, the consequences of the meltdown are hard to comprehend. Nuclear power doesn’t only pose a threat to Japan but the entire world. Currently there are 443 nuclear power plants in operation around the planet. The danger of another catastrophe is imminent. Future natural catastrophes or human error could cause the next meltdown at any time.
An important aspect for her project was the collaboration with Anna Härtelt in the project »Wieder nichts gelernt« [No lesson learned]. Together they intensively looked for ways to express their personal apprehension and critically reflect on present methods of preventing nuclear meltdowns.