SOMETHING quite extraordinary has surfaced at the NGA Contemporary space on the lakeside.

“The Last Temptation: the art of Ken + Julia Yonetani” is comprised of chandeliers made from uranium glass that represent nuclear-powered nations and a nine-metre banquet table made entirely of salt, the “installation exhibition”, as they’re calling it, is the first large survey show of Japanese and Australian artist collaborators Ken and Julia Yonetani.

The pair have been collaborating on projects since 2009 and have exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2009, in the UK, Finland and Germany in 2011-2012, at the Singapore Biennale in 2013 and at the Abbaye de Maubuisson, Paris this year.

This bold and beautiful installation makes for a highly provocative response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Each chandelier is reconfigured to emanate UV light, and is decorated with uranium glass. Aesthetically quite enchanting, it is also easily understood, representing a country that operates nuclear power stations.

Uranium glass contains very small traces of uranium within the glass and poses no health risks.

“You can’t see, smell or perceive radiation with your senses, but it becomes visible in our works when illuminated with ultraviolet lights,” the artists say in explanation.

“Presented in darkness, the glass chandeliers and tubes glow with an eerie bright green light indicating the presence of radiation. We hope to prompt viewers to react in their own way to this radioactive presence.”

Alongside these opulent chandeliers sits “The Last Supper”, a nine-metre table made of more than a tonne of groundwater salt sourced from the Murray Darling Basin featuring a variety of foodstuffs in the form of a banquet – the Last Supper or the Last Temptation of the title.

“Salt is a metaphor for the death of the land, sacrificed in the production and consumption of what has become The Last Supper,” the artists say.

“The Last Temptation: the art of Ken + Julia Yonetani”, at NGA Contemporary until further notice. Free entry. ?