Witnesses to Radioactive Contamination 191
that are depicted on the photo paper in cloud-like density depending on
the strength of the radioactivity. The artist controls the “physically direct
record” 61 and considers the textures of the soil samples from aesthetic perspectives. To that end, he uses mosses, which are famous for storing radioactive nuclides with particular efficiency. 62 In Takeda’s work, they leave concise
traces behind on the paper. The chemical limits of the photographic material
limit the exposure time, and it is up to the artist’s aesthetic assessment to stop
the exposure process.
Takeda, who had expanded his collecting activity to five prefectures, preferred to take soil samples in locations marked by their spiritual context. 63 He
felt a connection to the souls of his ancestors who lived there: “So I added
this element, the memory of precious ancestors’ souls by selecting specific
locations.” 64
Using the technique of autoradiography, Takeda seems to approach spiritual
phenomena as well. This recalls an early chapter in the history of photography
in which the goal was to use photographic processes to make paranormal phenomena, such as fluids, energy currents, and ghosts, visible. 65 Takeda, however, contradicts the possibility of seeing deceased relatives in the photographs
of Trace but recognizes it as a component of the production process. His works
may also be characterized by their closeness to Japanese Shinto philosophy,
where the point is to focus attention on the energy of objects with souls. He
remarks on this: “Growing up in Japan automatically means I have a relationship to Shinto to some degree, so animism is always somewhere in my
mind.” 66 In his catalog on the photo series, Takeda speaks of the digging of
soil samples in Fukushima feeling like the collection of the ashes of a deceased
person. 67
In Takeda’s artistic concept, which focuses very strongly on the process
of image production, the indexical qualities of photography play a crucial
role. At the same time, his own contact with the landscape, which for him
is composed of personal, historical, cultural, and spiritual aspects, relates to
the performative implementation. His search for clues and contact to things
has an indexical quality and finds its pendant in the indexical quality of the
photographic process. For him, the index truly becomes an artistic method.
Epilogue (Making Visible)
In Günther Anders’s text Der Mann auf der Brücke, it is the shadows in Nagasaki
that point to the dead of the destructive atomic devastation of Nagasaki. “For
witnesses […] will not be found. Only other silhouettes on other walls.” 68
In the photographic examples discussed above, the contamination caused
by the events of Hiroshima, Chernobyl, New Mexico (Trinity test), and
Fukushima are made visible in the first place by photography. The radioactive radiation inscribes itself as a trace on the photographic negative and
fades out or erases the representational information. Hybrid forms of representation (Kostin and Matsushige) move within the area of tension between
that are depicted on the photo paper in cloud-like density depending on
the strength of the radioactivity. The artist controls the “physically direct
record” 61 and considers the textures of the soil samples from aesthetic perspectives. To that end, he uses mosses, which are famous for storing radioactive nuclides with particular efficiency. 62 In Takeda’s work, they leave concise
traces behind on the paper. The chemical limits of the photographic material
limit the exposure time, and it is up to the artist’s aesthetic assessment to stop
the exposure process.
Takeda, who had expanded his collecting activity to five prefectures, preferred to take soil samples in locations marked by their spiritual context. 63 He
felt a connection to the souls of his ancestors who lived there: “So I added
this element, the memory of precious ancestors’ souls by selecting specific
locations.” 64
Using the technique of autoradiography, Takeda seems to approach spiritual
phenomena as well. This recalls an early chapter in the history of photography
in which the goal was to use photographic processes to make paranormal phenomena, such as fluids, energy currents, and ghosts, visible. 65 Takeda, however, contradicts the possibility of seeing deceased relatives in the photographs
of Trace but recognizes it as a component of the production process. His works
may also be characterized by their closeness to Japanese Shinto philosophy,
where the point is to focus attention on the energy of objects with souls. He
remarks on this: “Growing up in Japan automatically means I have a relationship to Shinto to some degree, so animism is always somewhere in my
mind.” 66 In his catalog on the photo series, Takeda speaks of the digging of
soil samples in Fukushima feeling like the collection of the ashes of a deceased
person. 67
In Takeda’s artistic concept, which focuses very strongly on the process
of image production, the indexical qualities of photography play a crucial
role. At the same time, his own contact with the landscape, which for him
is composed of personal, historical, cultural, and spiritual aspects, relates to
the performative implementation. His search for clues and contact to things
has an indexical quality and finds its pendant in the indexical quality of the
photographic process. For him, the index truly becomes an artistic method.
Epilogue (Making Visible)
In Günther Anders’s text Der Mann auf der Brücke, it is the shadows in Nagasaki
that point to the dead of the destructive atomic devastation of Nagasaki. “For
witnesses […] will not be found. Only other silhouettes on other walls.” 68
In the photographic examples discussed above, the contamination caused
by the events of Hiroshima, Chernobyl, New Mexico (Trinity test), and
Fukushima are made visible in the first place by photography. The radioactive radiation inscribes itself as a trace on the photographic negative and
fades out or erases the representational information. Hybrid forms of representation (Kostin and Matsushige) move within the area of tension between