Apocalypse no! Why artists should not go into the Fukushima exclusion zone

Artists are installing work in the poisoned nuclear landscape devastated in 2011's tsunami - and of course, no one can visit it. I can't think of a more fatuous plan

It is no surprise that art is drawn to politics. The drama and emotion of a conflicted world can make for moving, haunting images. But is art really capable of useful commentary on world events - or does it encourage fatuously emotional responses?

An exhibition in the Fukushima exclusion zone in Japan is an example of what I am talking about. That's right, the Fukushima exclusion zone - the 20km zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was damaged in Japan's devastating 2011 earthquake and leaked radiation.