Ghostly outlines of ginkgo leaves float on a sea of blue in Elin o\u2019Hara Slavick\u2019s artwork. She creates cyanotypes of natural material\u2014such as tree bark or leaves\u2014that was hit by the bomb on Hiroshima. Her art touches on the natural aspect of disasters. In what seems to be an entirely unnatural event\u2014a country drops an atomic bomb on the city of an enemy country during war\u2014still has an element of nature. Furthermore, Slavick\u2019s choice of subject leads to questions about how varying perspectives alter the meaning of \u201cdisaster.\u201d Her art also brings a poignant element to the memory of disasters that cannot easily be expressed in essays on disasters.<\/p>\n
When the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II, it probably would not have been labeled \u201cnatural disaster.\u201d It may have been a disaster for the thousands of people, or for the town, or for Japan. It could also have been an example of new technology or hastened the end of the war. Yet Hiroshima does not seem to be a natural disaster. Nature has not been an explicit agent in the destruction of Hiroshima. A bomb is not a hurricane, a typhoon, or a tornado. Countries employ bombs to wage war on their enemies. Man wreaks havoc on man, and nature appears to be far removed. Some scholars describe disasters as \u201centirely un-natural phenomena untethered from the non-human world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slavick\u2019s work highlights how nature may be an actor even in the most unnatural events and even if humans are discounted from the natural realm. In a disaster that seems so entangled in technology and politics, nature was still involved. Although nature did not contribute to Hiroshima, the bomb still disturbed nature. Slavick reminds viewers that almost no disaster occurs entirely removed from nature. Events rarely happen in a sterile sphere rather they demonstrate the connections found in the world. Perhaps Hiroshima appeared to involved men and technology alone, but Slavick has recorded the \u201cBark from an A-Bombed Eucalyptus Tree\u201d and \u201cGinkgo Leaves from an A-Bombed Tree.\u201d Those pieces represent hundreds of trees, plants, animals, and waterways that were likely affected by the bomb. Slavick strives \u201cto make the invisible impact visible.\u201d For the nature around Hiroshima, the bomb might be called a natural disaster.<\/p>\n
As the trees around Hiroshima might count the bomb as a disaster, people themselves may have their own perspectives on Hiroshima. The Japanese and the people of Hiroshima likely count the bomb as a disaster; it flattened a city, killed or injured thousands, and contributed to Japan\u2019s loss in World War II. For Americans, however, the bomb may represent an advance\u2014albeit terrible\u2014in technology, the probable saving of American soldiers from invading Japan, and the successful end of World War II. \u00a0They may be less likely to categorize Hiroshima as a complete disaster. Slavick\u2019s choice of materials reminds viewers of the various perceptions of disaster. For instance, there is a white shape of ginkgo leaves and the negative outline of the leaves in blue. The shape is at once positive and negative space just as disaster may be simultaneously \u201cpositive\u201d and \u201cnegative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Slavick artwork portrays a view of disaster that cannot be conveyed in an essay discussing disaster. The art may be interpreted in multiple ways, which is more difficult to do in writing. The ghostly outlines may represent the loss after disaster; the artists depicts one survivor\u2019s experience by describing \u201cthe disappearance of the world as she[the survivor] knew it.\u201d Slavick\u2019s art also points forward to the aftermath of a disaster. The memory of the disaster still exists in the outline of the images, but there is something peaceful in the art. Soft white and clean blue point to a hopeful future. Disasters will always be remembered but are also able to be overcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ghostly outlines of ginkgo leaves float on a sea of blue in Elin o\u2019Hara Slavick\u2019s artwork. She creates cyanotypes of natural material\u2014such as tree bark or leaves\u2014that was hit by the bomb on Hiroshima. Her art touches on the natural aspect of disasters. In what seems to be an entirely unnatural event\u2014a country drops an … <\/p>\n