To question is at the heart of Masanobu Fukuoka’s 1975 book, The One-Straw Revolution. The Yoke was an exhibition experience that served as an invitation to question, by Big Al.

Over three months, Al read this book while living and working on multiple farms across Japan. Masanobu’s Natural Farming method——or ‘do nothing’ farming——proposes a philosophy that returns agency to nature and mystery, doing only what is necessary to grow food.

Al began to wonder how this method could be applied to all the in-between spaces, vacant plots, and ‘nothing’ spaces in cities. Through artworks of collage, video, and an interactive dining experience, visitors were invited to look——and look again——at the ‘nothing’ spaces that surround us in urban environments. What if the in-between, the yoke or yolk of a ‘nothing’ place, could become the main event?

Above: The Mantis Perspective: A Short Film (work #3) by Big Al, 2022
Projected short film (4K) — at the exhibition, the film was projected onto its own ‘in-between’ space (the air conditioning unit) in the gallery.

To learn more about the artist residency and exhibition space, visit Arts Itoya

For more information on The One-Straw Revolution, visit this site on Masanobu Fukuoka’s Farm

2022/10/17 The Yoke

CATALOGUE : archived

LOCATION : Saga Prefecture, Japan

WITH : Sachi Matsuzaki and (other artists exhibiting Sierra Sanchez and Silvia Husek) at Arts Itoya

this project is dedicated to Sachi-san and Hirofumi-san