Yoi Kawakubo: Art after Fukushima and Tohoku

About

Since 2012 Yoi Kawakubo has been exploring the boundaries of photography as a medium in an ontological manner, together with the limits of language and the medium itself. Focusing on his interest and experiences in Fukushima, Kawakubo discusses cultural aspects of Japan, including references to Japanese contemporary art and culture like the current issues of nuclear power as well as his experiences in making work at Fukushima and Tohoku. Kawakubo is visiting Camberwell College of Arts, Chelsea College of Arts and Wimbledon College of Arts (CCW), University of the Arts London, as part of an International Exchange Programme in association with Tokyo Wondersite. Whilst the artist is in London he will explore the history and the epistemology of language in the narrative, focusing in the English narrative in art and the use of stories, and do documentation research through small format photography in the city of London. Yoi is interested in the tradition of meta-storytelling and narrative that, from Shakespeare to Lewis Carroll, or artists like Ryan Gander or Simon Starling, is present in the British tradition. Yoi Kawakubo is a photographer and artist, born in Spain and currently based in Tokyo. He bases his works on themes regarding the ontology of photography, light, and social issues such as disaster affected areas of Fukushima and Tohoku.