Threatening Water:
I am concerned about today’s environmental conditions, especially water issues.
I am from Hiroshima, Japan. Japan is a small country consisting of islands, surrounded by the sea. There is the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime prefecture, situated 100 kilometers from Hiroshima. The Fukushima disaster was caused by a large tsunami, triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake; a large area of land and sea was contaminated by radiation.
In this installation, I use stage setting concepts from the “Theater of the Absurd.” This is a post–World War II theatre movement of plays of absurdist fiction by primarily European playwrights, and the style of theater that evolved from their work. I am using the idea of theater to portray the futility of human struggle amid the senselessness of the world, with shipping pallets forming an unstable floor, and a chair for an absent character. Fish dominate the stage, and as objects they are contaminated and ridiculous.
I have used blue lighting to suggest the radiation poisoning in the sea caused by cesium, tritium, and other radioactive elements. They can be a radiation hazard and cause cancer when inhaled, ingested via food or water, or absorbed through the skin.
The issue of nuclear power is controversial because it offers a source of energy, while also being harmful to the human body. This exhibit is to increase awareness of the threat of radiation from nuclear power plants in the case of natural disasters.