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Eco-aesthetics

Ken + Julia Yonetani

Melanie Pocock
Eyeline 80
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If there is one salient feature in Ken and Julia Yonetani’s art it is deep concern for the environment. From hand crafted ceramics of endangered Australian butterflies in Fumie Tiles (2003), to sculptures of coral life threatened by sugar production in Sweet Barrier Reef (2009), their works act as potent reminders of the earth’s degrading ecosystems. Often soliciting the participation of the audience, they also seem to suggest that human societies—in their manipulation and surplus consumption of natural resources—are the primary cause of environmental degradation. On the opening night for Fumie Tiles, visitors were invited to trample over and obliterate the ceramic tiles, allegorically performing a metaphor of extinction.

On a surface level, Ken and Julia Yonetani’s works make perfect candidates for ‘green’ art with their direct references to environmental issues. Their latest project, Crystal Palace: The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nuclear Nations (2013), is quite literally ‘green’, consisting of thirty-one chandeliers made from uranium glass beads that emit an iridescent glow when illuminated by UV light. The artists conceived the work in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster that saw dangerous levels of radiation leaked when its power plant exploded after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The chandeliers represent the countries that still use nuclear energy, the size of each proportionate to that of its nuclear industry. Showing for the first time as a complete installation in the 2013 Singapore Biennale, Crystal Palace visualises the seductive beauty—and horror—of nuclear power, as well as the catastrophe likely to occur in the event of a global meltdown.

While the Yonetanis’ evocation of environmental issues in works like Crystal Palace are clear, they... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

Crystal Palace: The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nuclear Nations, 2012–13. Installation detail, Singapore Biennale, 2013. Metal frames, uranium glass, UV lights, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists and Artereal Gallery Sydney.

Crystal Palace: The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nuclear Nations, 2012–13. Installation detail, Singapore Biennale, 2013. Metal frames, uranium glass, UV lights, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists and Artereal Gallery Sydney.

Ultrabuddha: That is Why I Want to be Saved, 2010. C-type photograph, 95 x 30cm. Courtesy the artists and Artereal Gallery Sydney.

Ultrabuddha: That is Why I Want to be Saved, 2010. C-type photograph, 95 x 30cm. Courtesy the artists and Artereal Gallery Sydney.