2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

Art of the Atomic Age (Part II)

Research Project

Project/Area Number	17K13371
Research Institution	Kyushu University
Principal Investigator	デカマスガブリエル九州大学, 言語文化研究院, 准教授 (90741710)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Keywords	Arts / Atomic Age / Nuclear technology / Philosophy / Art and science
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	My book "Invisible Colors: The Arts of the Atomic Age" has been published earlier this year (February 2019) by MIT Press. Since then, the it has been mentioned or reviewed by several important sites. For example, The Atomic Photographers Guild wrote about the book. The Guild is a very important collective of photographers who devoted their lives to give visibility to the atomic age. Another very thoughtful article was published by the blog "We Make Money Not Art", which regularly reviews books on nuclear technology but also art in general. The blog has been twitted several times, sometimes by important institutions. This considerably helped giving light to the nuclear traumas I was desperately wanted to bring into the public debates. In addition to this, the book is currently being sold in or was acquired by important institutions and libraries, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The New York Public Library, and the SOLU library (from the Board society which is based in Helsinki and promotes art and science programs). Thanks to this, several persons reached out to me, some from the 文化庁。I fell quite humbled by all this and really hope to contribute in giving more visibility to the still ongoing effects of radioactivity in particular in Japan but also in areas such as Oceania and on the African continent.
Current Status of Research Progress	Current Status of Research Progress 4: Progress in research has been delayed. Reason The organisation of a conference on the topic was delayed, first because the book was delayed, second because I had tried to get more founding to be able to invite more key researchers and artists. The nuclear age is unfortunately a global problem and inviting persons from abroad means a more substantial budget than I first thought. But it looks like an open-call is the only option.
Strategy for Future Research Activity	I hope to organise a conference by February or March 2020. I originally had planed to travel to the Marshall Islands and to Tahiti (for Moruroa), but it might be difficult in terms of budget. I still hope to at lease have the time to go by myself, perhaps next year. This year, I have writing commitments for several academic journals I want to honour.
Causes of Carryover	I hope to organise a conference on the topic art and nuclear technology.