Shimpei Takeda is one of the most interesting contemporary artists I've come across. His most recent project Trace exposes soil contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear power plant directly onto 8x10" black and white film. Creating profound visualizations of the radiation existing within the ground-soil of affected landscapes.
The imprints of light generated by radioactivity printed on photographic paper take on the appearance of stars and constellations in the night sky. Takeda describes Trace as a, “physically direct record of the worst man-made nuclear accident in history.”
Since radiation is not visible to the eye, Trace allows a visible, physical representation of the damage done to the land, not just for current generations to see, but for future ones as well.
Post by Ricky
The imprints of light generated by radioactivity printed on photographic paper take on the appearance of stars and constellations in the night sky. Takeda describes Trace as a, “physically direct record of the worst man-made nuclear accident in history.”
Since radiation is not visible to the eye, Trace allows a visible, physical representation of the damage done to the land, not just for current generations to see, but for future ones as well.
Post by Ricky
Comment by Lauren Trangmar: I think the idea of making the invisible visible is interesting. Too often if we can't see something it is easy to ignore it. This representation acts like evidence and forces people to acknowledge what happened. It is also interesting that such an awful thing can actually be quite beautiful visually.