Ken + Julia Yonetani
- b. Duo. Ken Yonetani (b. 1971); Julia Yonetani (b. 1972) in Tokyo, Japan
- Working in Sydney, Australia; and Kyoto, Japan
- Showing at Asia Society Museum
- On view October 27, 2020, through February 7, 2021
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Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014. Three sculptures, each: glass figurine, butterfly specimen, glass dome, music box (playing "It's a Small World"). Glass figurines, each: H. 5 7/8 x Diam. 3 1/2 in. (15 x 9 cm). Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph by Catherine Brossais
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes (detail), 2014. Three sculptures, each: glass figurine, butterfly specimen, glass dome, music box (playing "It's a Small World"). Glass figurines, each: H. 5 7/8 x Diam. 3 1/2 in. (15 x 9 cm). Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph by Catherine Brossais
- Location: Asia Society Museum
-
Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014. Three sculptures, each: glass figurine, butterfly specimen, glass dome, music box (playing "It's a Small World"). Glass figurines, each: H. 5 7/8 x Diam. 3 1/2 in. (15 x 9 cm). Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph by Catherine Brossais
- Location: Asia Society Museum
-
Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014. Three sculptures, each: glass figurine, butterfly specimen, glass dome, music box (playing "It's a Small World"). Glass figurines, each: H. 5 7/8 x Diam. 3 1/2 in. (15 x 9 cm). Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph by Catherine Brossais
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. From left to right: documentary photographs the project; The Walt Disney Story of Our Friend the Atom (1956); Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014, Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
-
Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. From left to right: documentary photographs of the project; The Walt Disney Story of Our Friend the Atom (1956). Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
-
Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014, Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
Ken + Julia Yonetani’s collaborative, research-based practice explores the interaction between humans, nature, science, and the spiritual realm to counteract the isolation experienced by individuals in contemporary society. Their interdisciplinary and often immersive installations are meant to engage the senses as a means to reconnect the viewer with the natural world. Ken Yonetani received an MA from the Australian National University, Canberra, and a PhD from Sydney College of the Arts. Julia Yonetani received a PhD from the Australian National University.
Three Wishes is a multimedia installation that highlights the dangers associated with the development of nuclear power, especially as a source of sustainable energy. The project, produced in collaboration with Otaki Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, was inspired by Walt Disney’s belief in the benefits of atomic energy following World War II. Disney’s faith in the promise of nuclear power is best exemplified in the 1956 publication, The Walt Disney Story of Our Friend the Atom, a collaboration with the German physicist Heinz Haber. The contents were later adapted into a 1957 Disneyland television program titled “Our Friend the Atom.” Three Wishes features three figures of the Disney character Tinker Bell, modified with wings from Zizeeria maha butterflies, which were hatched from eggs collected as a part of a scientific study into the biological impact of the Fukushima nuclear-power disaster. These rotating figures, whose construction evokes Frankenstein’s monster, are accompanied by the well-known song, “It’s a Small World,” which was developed as part of Disney’s contribution to the Children of the World Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The Yonetani’s mutated renditions of Tinker Bell collectively serve as a cautionary tale regarding the great risks involved with our reliance on nuclear power and the potential problems it engenders for future generations.
This work was produced in collaboration with Otaki Laboratory, University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan supported by an Asialink Arts Residency.
Click here to learn more about and see research from the Otaki Laboratory.
Supported in-kind by Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore.
Below: Ken + Julia Yonetani, Three Wishes, 2014. Three sculptures, each: Glass figurine, butterfly specimen, glass dome, music box (playing It's a Small World). Glass figurines, each: H. 5 7/8 x Diam. 3 1/2 in. (15 x 9 cm). Courtesy of the artists and Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. Video courtesy of the artist. This work was produced in collaboration with Otaki Laboratory, University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan supported by an Asialink Arts Residency
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