LEONARDO REVIEWS LEONARDO REVIEWS Nuclear Comeback can be helpful, prob- try: “I am not entirely sure that it is Editor-in-Chief: Michael Punt ably not in giving conclusive answers appropriate to include nuclear power Managing Editor: Bryony Dalefield about nuclear power, but in correctly in the regular market economy,” marks presenting its current revival. This Lars-Olov Hoghrud, nuclear engineer Associate Editors: Dene Grigar, movie consists of seven sections deal- at the Swedish plant Forsmark. Martha Blassnigg, Hannah Drayson ing with all the contentious aspects Throughout the video, the scenery A full selection of reviews is pub- of nuclear energy: greenhouse gas portrays overcrowded urban traffic, lished monthly on the LR web site: reduction potential, economics, risks, night-time illumination in Western <leonardoreviews.mit.edu>. accidents, waste management and com- towns, and offices where both advo- parison with renewable alternatives. A cates and opponents of nuclear power worldwide tour of the nuclear industry explain their points of view surrounded takes the audience from plants in Swe- by energy-consuming technological FILM den and England to uranium mines in devices. Even when the discourse turns Australia and the debris of Chernobyl, to renewable energy resources, the offering a direct review of the state of video shows large Aeolian and pho- the art in each sector. tovoltaic plants set on the Northern THE NUCLEAR COMEBACK Despite the claims of its advocates, European seashore or in sunny areas of by Justin Pemberton. Icarus Films, the environmental and economic ben- the African desert. It never questions release 2008, copyright 2007. DVD, efits of nuclear power never emerge the desire to run after such a huge 53 min, closed captioned. Distributor’s convincingly. “We have become amount of energy supply. It seems as if web site: <http://icarusfilms.com/ addicted to consuming huge amounts no other possibility exists for contem- new2008/nuc.html>. of fossil fuels,” states Bruno Comby, porary societies than a self-consistent founder of Environmentalists for gigantic cycle of energy production and Reviewed by Enzo Ferrara, Ecoistituto del Nuclear Energy; “this is why we have consumption. Piemonte “Pasquale Cavaliere.” E-mail: absolutely no choice, we need to turn to The nuclear power dilemma is not <[email protected]>. nuclear energy.” “We’re seeing nuclear, only for the rich world to decide, as its the n-world, is much more mentionable In the face of climate change and the in high political places today than it oil crisis, the nuclear industry pro- was even two years ago,” adds Ian Hore- Reviews Panel: Kathryn Adams, Nameera poses itself as a solution, claiming that Ahmed, Ajaykumar, Fred Andersson, Wilfred Lacy, public communications direc- Arnold, Kasey Asberry, Jan Baetens, Niran nuclear power generation is cheap, with tor of the World Nuclear Association; Bahjat-Abbas, Curtis Bahn, Brian Baigrie, nil carbon emissions, while new plants but the film presents a more complex John F. Barber, Marc Battier, Michel Bauwens, are safer than older ones and future scenario. The vision of the planet’s René Beekman, David Beer, Roy R. Behrens, technological developments are certain Katharina Blassnigg, Martha Blassnigg, Barry most famous nuclear facilities, includ- Blundell, Paul Brown, Annick Bureaud, Chris to provide solutions for nuclear waste ing Chernobyl, and the surrounding Cobb, Ornella Corazza, Geoff Cox, Sean Cubitt, treatment and safe repository location. apparatus sustaining them (uranium Andrea Dahlberg, Hugo de Rijke, Dennis Dol- People are listening; the result is the ores, transportation and locations for lens, Luisa Paraguai Donati, Hannah Drayson, opening of a global nuclear renais- nuclear waste) easily show the hidden Mathew Elgart, Maia Engeli, Anthony Enns, sance, with some tens of nuclear power Jennifer Ferng, Enzo Ferrara, George Gessert, costs and latent threats posed by this Thom Gillespie, Allan Graubard, Dene Grigar, stations under construction and more industry. The Calder Hall Power Station Diane Gromala, Rob Harle, Craig Harris, than a hundred expected to start within (Sellafield, U.K.) was the first com- Josepha Haveman, Paul Hertz, Craig J Hilton, the next decade. Conversely, detractors mercial nuclear plant ever available. It Amy Ione, Jude James, Jung A. Huh, Richard explain that nuclear power is produc- Kade, Nisar Keshvani, John Knight, Mike closed in 2003, and decommission pro- Leggett, Helen Levin, Shi Li, Kieran Lyons, ing a 100,000-year legacy of radioactive cedures are expected to last 120 years. Roger Malina, Jacques Mandelbrojt, Florence waste, the power stations are primary Exhausted uranium and plutonium Martellini, Nigel May, Eduardo Miranda, Rick terrorist targets and the industry has fuels are temporarily buried under- Mitchell, Robert A. Mitchell, Christine Morris, a reputation for accidents, cover-ups ground in empty salt mines or under Michael Mosher, Axel Mulder, Frieder Nake, and links to nuclear weapons produc- Maureen A. Nappi, Angela Ndalianis, Mar- the Baltic Sea, shielded by concrete or cus Neustetter, Martha Patricia Niño, Simone tion—the so-called Siamese twin syn- embedded in thick glass matrixes; but, Osthoff, Jack Ox, Narendra Pachkhede, Jussi drome. Energy-making through nuclear we are warned, there is currently no Parikka, Robert Pepperell, Cliff Pickover, Patricia power remains a controversial issue: It permanent high-level nuclear-power Pisters, Michael Punt, Kathleen Quillian, Harry is impossible to outline completely its Rand, Sonya Rapoport, Trace Reddell, Alex waste repository operating anywhere Rotas, Sundar Sarukkai, Bill Seeley, Abhijit life-cycle assessment without consider- in the world able to stock radioactive Sen, Aparna Sharma, George K. Shortess, Joel ing a time span large enough to include garbage safely enough to resist earth- Slayton, Chris Speed, Yvonne Spielmann, David thousands of (hoped for) upcoming quakes, floods or other natural occur- Surman, Eugene Thacker, Pia Tikka, David human generations. rences over the next 1,000 centuries. Topper, Cyane Tornatzky, Nicholas Tresilian, Therefore, a well-informed and Rene van Peer, Stefaan van Ryssen, Ian Ver- All these open questions make nuclear stegen, Claudia Westermann, Stephen Wilson, open-minded documentary such as The energy different from any other indus- Jonathan Zilberg ©2009 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 455–469, 2009 455 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon.2009.42.5.461 by guest on 24 September 2021 demand is most dramatic in develop- like John Cage or, although in a slightly Thanks to this clever presentation, ing countries such as China, India and different manner, Chris Marker. the show has become something more North Korea, where energy consump- At first sight, the strategic choices than either a pale copy of new media tion is increasing steeply and most made by the curator and her team will works that one should read and evalu- nuclear plants are being projected. surprise the visitor. What one discovers ate in one’s own technological envi- Little is said about the scarcity of ura- in the show is exactly what one did not ronment or a banal illustration of the nium ore. Only Canada, Australia and expect to find. First, the show focuses intellectual fireworks that can be found Kazakhstan will account for further on the artist rather than on his network. in Ascott’s publications. Centered on mining. The three together provide (It could have been possible, for exam- works that are to be discovered as work- half the annual output of nuclear fuel ple, to organize a show on Ascott while ing spaces, this retrospective, which by worldwide, but production lags far gathering nothing other than works of the way also demonstrates how deeply below demand. Exploiting older stocks his students or admirers.) Second, it involved Roy Ascott was, and still is, in and converting military arsenals com- concentrates on the past rather than all the major evolutions of art since the pensates for this. on the future. (Ascott’s current work, 1960s, has become a statement on the In summary, The Nuclear Comeback which is taking place mostly on the exhibition as a work of art, not as the presents an informative vision recom- Internet, is just hinted at in the exhibi- reappropriation of an artistic career mended to science teachers and policy tion.) Third, the work is also presented through a curator’s perspective, but as a makers. It may make for scary viewing, in a very straightforward way; well docu- companion to the personal fulfillment but awareness is essential if a participa- mented and exemplarily offered not of the visitor. tory response is required to address this as theoretical statements but as artistic crucial question of our time. achievements. (Ascott’s most stunning and audacious speculations bear some resemblance—in form at least—to Jeff BOOKS Wall--inspired light boxes.) EXHIBITION Yet the traditional appearance of the show proves extremely deceptive. For MEMORY AGAINST CULTURE those willing to take a closer look, it by Johannes Fabian. Duke University ROY ASCOTT: rapidly appears that the curators’ vision Press, Durham and London, U.S.A/ THE SYNCRETIC SENSE actually redefines what this retrospec- U.K., 2007. 208 pp., illus. Hardcover; Curated by Paula Orrell. Plymouth Arts tive is: not the passive celebration of paperback. Centre, 4 April--24 May 2009. a great man but a hugely active user’s manual. First of all one notices that Reviewed by Martha Blassnigg, University of Reviewed by Jan Baetens (Belgium). E-mail: even if the show includes hardly any Plymouth, U.K. E-mail: <martha.blassnigg@ <[email protected]>. interactive items, it produces much gmail.com>. more interactivity than that achieved by What can it possibly mean to put on a those installations that most frequently In Memory against Culture, Johannes retrospective on the work of an artist allow only for use and reuse of the Fabian, Professor Emeritus of Cultural who stated in 1974: “Imagine a soci- work.