Diana Thater's Chernobyl video installation at David Zwirner explores the exclusion zone's wildlife and geological time

In 2010, Diana Thater's video installation Chernobyl was showcased at David Zwirner's West Chelsea gallery, which was affected by Hurricane Sandy. The piece, filmed within the 30-kilometre exclusion zone of the 1986 nuclear disaster, centers on the deserted theater in Pripyat, the reactor's company town. Through a panoramic video loop, Thater captures the theater's architectural forms, reflecting the changing seasons. Surprisingly, the installation highlights a thriving ecosystem, featuring Przewalski's horses, the last wild horse subspecies, introduced due to minimal human interference. Mortuary workers still care for the nuclear site and burial grounds. The video begins with the moon rising over a Lenin statue, linking unseen ideologies with invisible radiation. Thater's work addresses both human and geological timescales, noting that plutonium-239 decays at 50% every 24,000 years, while cesium contamination lasts five times longer than the anticipated 60 years. By showcasing life enduring in contaminated landscapes, the piece challenges apocalyptic views, suggesting that time is experienced rather than simply elapsed. This article first appeared in ArtReview's January & February 2013 issue.