The sculpture Dark Fossile Abakus is a powerful commentary on the impact of nuclear experimentation on our environment and communities. The work continues the artist’s use of coconuts as a physical symbol of radioactivity; Combined with the deliberate appearance of a child’s counting beads, the work captures time’s precarious nature. Consisting of 137 Coconuts coated with zircon sands or graphite both materials used in nuclear fusion reactors, Dark Fossile Abakus draws several references to the nuclear history of the Bikini Atoll and The Mururoa Atoll. Between 1946 and 1958, twentythree nuclear devices were detonated by the United States at seven test sites located on the reef, inside the atoll, in the air, or underwater. They had a combined fission yield of 42.2 Mt. The testing began with the Operation Crossroads series in July 1946. Prior to nuclear testing, the residents initially accepted resettlement voluntarily to Rongerik Atoll, believing that they would be able to return home within a short time. Rongerik Atoll could not produce enough food and the islanders starved. When they could not return home, they were relocated to Kwajalein Atoll for six months before choosing to live on Kili Island, a small island one-sixth the size of their home island. Some were able to return to the Bikini Island in 1970 until further testing revealed dangerous levels of strontium-90. After the nuclear bomb test explosions, the Bikini Atoll became a nuclear sanctuary. Before that the local people were moved to Kili, a small island with few resources, where they faced starvation. Many returned to the Bikini Island, despite the contamination of its water wells, breadfruit and coconuts which were found to be too radioactive for human consumption. Ever since these valuable resources are transformed to scientific indictors - future fossils artifacts of the Anthropocenic era.
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