The art: Norman Lewis, Every Atom Glows: Electrons in Luminous Vibration, 1951.
The news: “Radiation hampers efforts to restore power to nuclear plant in Japan,” by Thomas H. Maugh II in the Los Angeles Times.
The source: Flickr user Patrick Gunderson via “Since ‘45: America and the Making of Contemporary Art,” by Katy Siegel.
The art: John Swope, Hamamatsu, September 6, 1945.
The news: “Seeing tragedy in Japan, through the camera’s double lens,” by Philip Kennicott in the Washington Post. About halfway through Kennicott’s essay I thought to myself, “He’s thinking about John Swope.” And there, at the end of the piece, Kennicott comes around to Swope. Good writers make readers feel good.
The source: “A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope,” at the Hammer Museum in 2006. The exhibition’s catalogue is beautiful and thought-provoking.
The art: Paul Shambroom, Level A HAZMAT suit, yellow. (“Disaster City” National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, Texas Engineering and Extention Service (TEEX), College Station, TX), 2004.
The news: “Workers Strain to Retake Control After Blast and Fire at Japan Plant,” by Keith Bradsher, Hiroko Tabuchi and David E. Sanger in the New York Times.
The source: Collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Special thanks to Modern Art Notes reader-commenter tsp.
The art: Robert Polidori, Control Room, Reactor 4, Chernobyl, 2001.
The news: “Japan’s nuclear crisis widens,” by Mark Magnier, Barbara Demick and Laura King in the Los Angeles Times.
The source: Polidori’s must-own 2003 book “Zones of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl.” (This afternoon I’ll tweet a couple more images from Polidori’s book. Follow me here.)
Also, after Polidori published his book on New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I did this Q&A with him on Modern Art Notes.
