The Mutated Insects of Chernobyl

Posted by John Farrier in Arts & Crafts, Science & Tech on October 13, 2009 at 11:23 am


Image: Cornelia Hesse-Honegger

Since 1967, scientific illustrator Cornelia Hesse-Honegger has visited 25 nuclear sites, including that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, documenting the mutated insects resulting from radioactive contamination. In an interview about her work, Hesse-Honegger said:

I never thought really about myself as being an artist. I just made what I thought was necessary. I thought that these laboratory flies are the prototypes of our understanding of nature, in the sense that we can do anything to nature—we the humans dictate in the end how nature should look like. It was for me the prototype of a future nature, man-made.

The professor who first gave me the mutated flies was convinced, however, that the radiation from Chernobyl had no impact on nature. This is what brought up the question of “low-level radiation.” Nobody was interested in doing research; this is why I thought I had to make these paintings to show the scientists that it would be important to start research in fallout areas.

Link via Fast Company | Interview with the Artist

 
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450 Powerful Pictures from Chernobyl

Posted by Queuebot in Pictures, Travel & Places on July 16, 2009 at 8:09 pm


Swiss decay photographer Timm Suess just published a travel journal through the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. The whole collection includes 450 powerful HDR images, all Creative Commons-licensed. Videos and sounds too.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lord_yo.

 
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