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REAL TIMES
2011
video （11′ 11″）
On April 11, just a month after 3.11, Chim↑Pom trespassed in high-security areas of towns uninhibited due to the nuclear accidents, heading for a lookout point on the site of the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) facility approximately 700 meters from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. TEPCO had estimated radiation levels to be 199 μSv/hr. Having their car parked near the main gate, Chim↑Pom made a 20 minute trek to reach their destination. From the top of the lookout, which was previously promoted as a site for the New Year’s sunrise spectacle, was the view of white smoke rising from Reactor 4, and the Pacific Ocean into which a vast amount of contaminated water was leaking. Chim↑Pom stretched out a white flag, sprayed a red circle on it to resemble the red circle of the Japanese flag, changed it further to a radiation symbol, and raised the flag following the custom of “the pole of inaccessibility” like on the moon or Mount Everest. The title REAL TIMES simultaneously stands for three meanings; as this very moment “right now,” as a historical time as in the film title Modern Times, and as a media title as in newspapers like The New York Times against the situation where the actual story of inside the high security area was never reported through mass media.
No Real Body 