"Chernobyl" by GusGus and Bjarki

I am moved by this fascinating song and video for "Chernobyl" by GusGus (previously here) with Bjarki. The visual narrative is touching and the song is like a soundtrack, propelling our heroine along on her painful journey of memory.

https://www.gusgus.com/

I was in Europe the summer of 1986, the summer of Chernobyl. It was my first trip abroad. There had also been some terrorist attacks (back when such things were relatively uncommon) and between these two dangerous events, the tourist turnout that summer was quite low. I recall having a lot of elbow room in England, France, and Italy. I enjoyed relatively uncrowded streets and very short lines, if any, at museums and cathedrals. But there was an advisory against eating any seafood as the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl had drifted over the open ocean and contaminated the marine life...sadly, I was unable to dive into one of Venice's famed Frutti di Mare feasts.

If you were not around then and are not familiar with the details, I highly recommend watching the HBO limited series "Chernobyl." It is a stunning cinematic achievement that captures quite well what went on. The series won a slew of awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

https://www.hbo.com/chernobyl

BEAUTY: Painting--Lukasz Pazera

Polish artist, painter, and animator Lukasz Pazera has created a series of paintings based on both the concept of The Zone from the Russian science fiction novel "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky Brothers (and made into a highly atmospheric film by Andrei Tarkovsky called "Stalker" which I reviewed here), and the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. He captures the empty, disquieting landscapes of the abandoned alien visitation site from the novel, as well as the ruins of the city of Prypiat and the surrounding environs.


Top to bottom: Postcard From The Zone III; Postcard From The Zone IV; Carriage; Smell of Rain I; Forest

http://lukaszpazera.com/
http://postcardsfromthezone.com/
http://lukpazera.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to preview and then order a book of all the prints from this series, visit:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1290773