Two Suns
SUPERFLEX / Denmark & Marshall Islands / 2024 / World Premiere / 15 min
A collaborative film work created by the artist group Superflex in collaboration with residents of the Marshall Islands, where the echoes of America's many nuclear tests still reverberate.
Between 1946 and 1958, the US tested 67 nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands. A spectator of the blasts said: ‘It was as if there were two suns in the sky.’ ‘Two Suns’ is a description of this complex history seen from the point of view of two children, Ahti and Aapo, who are chiefs on Enewetak Atoll. Some of the radioactive waste on the Marshall Islands was collected and stored in concrete in the Runit Dome. Locally, the dome is known as ‘The Tomb,’ and its imposing mass is iconic, appearing like a massive alien object. In Two Suns, Ahti and Aapo take apart a small copy of the Runit Dome and build new designs for a playground with the pieces. By taking apart the shape of the dome and reorganizing it in new configurations, the children transform it from a symbol of nuclear death and destruction into a symbol of life and open-ended play. The film is made by SUPERFLEX in collaboration with Ahti Moses and Aapo Moses, as well as their mother Brooke Takala and Maureen Penjueli.