‘What the Birds Knew’ features new sculptural works made from radioactive uranium glass by internationally-renowned Australian artists Ken + Julia Yonetani. A six metre long green ant threateningly looms over visitors to the gallery, and a large scale chandelier is visible 24 hours a day. UV lights make the uranium glow green, giving the works an ominous energy.
These new visually stunning and highly provocative works arise out of the artists’ concerns over the recent nuclear tragedy in Fukushima. ‘What the Birds Knew’ reflects shared cultural expressions of environmental anxieties within Indigenous Australian and Japanese culture, and whether these function as either warnings or premonitions.
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Until September 22, 2012
Sydney
What the Birds Knew, 2012, production still, uranium glass beads, aluminium wire, and UV lights
Courtesy of the artists, Artereal Gallery, Sydney; and GV Art, London. Photography: Zan Wimberley
