The Yoke was developed through an extended reading of The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka, undertaken alongside fieldwork across multiple farms in Japan.
Fukuoka’s natural farming philosophy — often described as “do-nothing” farming — proposes a return of agency to ecological systems, intervening only where necessary. Within the Yoke, this approach was translated into an exhibition framework concerned with the latent potential of overlooked ‘inbetween’ space (vacant plots, carparks, and abandoned gardens).
Through collage, video, and an interactive dining encounter, visitors were invited to reconsider these “nothing” spaces as potential places for regeneration. The work proposed the yoke (or yolk) of the city as a site of potential — where what is forgotten might become the main event.
One film component, The Mantis Perspective (2022), was projected not onto a wall but onto an existing ‘inbetween space’ — the gallery air-conditioning unit — treating a unit overlookes as a valued surface.
The project was presented at Arts Itoya.
2022/10/17 The Yoke
CATALOGUE : archived
LOCATION : Saga Prefecture, Japan
WITH : Sachi Matsuzaki, Sierra Sanchez, Silvia Husek with Arts Itoya
this project is dedicated to Sachi-san and Hirofumi-san
The Onigiri Dining Experience (work #1) with Sachi Matsuzaki, 2022.
Three Agricultural Collages (work #2) 35mm photographs collage, washi, gouache, ink, 2022.
The Mantis Perspective (work #3) projection (4k) 2022.