Taiki Yokote
Taiki Yokote, born in Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is a Japanese artist whose work draws out the wildness in familiar, overlooked objects.
His sculptural practice sets discarded materials into motion, transforming them into something alive. By blurring the line between artificial and organic, he invites us to rethink what we consider 'natural.'
In his kinetic sculptures, installations, and videos, Yokote explores how common debris — rubble, plastic — can take on entirely new identities. These materials shed their functions and become untold stories in motion. Through movement, the pieces echo impermanence, reminding us of time’s quiet insistence. His work reflects a deep interest in sustainability, showing that what we discard often holds more than we assume.
He describes his process as a dialogue with materials, letting them guide what they become. Influenced by traditional Japanese aesthetics, his work embraces wabi-sabi — the beauty of imperfection and change. Each piece holds a kind of memory, asking us to slow down and notice what we usually miss. With ongoing experiments in video and mixed media, his practice continues to shift, expanding the possibilities of form and material.
Dust, dirt, and debris are chosen not for meaning, but for how they behave. Movement comes from tension, imbalance, the suggestion of collapse. What looks still begins to shift, unsettling in its quiet refusal to stay put.
