Exhibition 2 New Hell, What Kind of Hell Will We Go To?, Tokyo

Takayuki Yamamoto (artist) []

Takayuki Yamamoto (artist)

Yamamoto was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1974. He has extensive experience as an elementary school teacher, and “education” is one of the central themes of his works. Based on children’s workshops, through the creative sensitivity latent in conversation and play, he depicts the peculiarities of systems and customs that tend to go unnoticed and the relationship between individuals and society. Recently, he has been involved in many projects conducted in collaboration with local communities. His major exhibitions include “Go-Betweens: The World Seen Through Children” (Mori Art Museum and others, 2014–2015) and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (India, 2016). In addition, he curated the Learning Program for the Aichi Triennale in 2022.

The “New Hell, What Kind of Hell Will We Go To?” project was initiated by Yamamoto in 2010. It was organized in Aichi Prefecture (Japan), San Francisco, Singapore, and several other locations worldwide. Through workshops, children devise the idea of their own “hells.” With the help of the staff members, they create three-dimensional objects and explain them while they are being recorded in front of a video camera. The explanations of the “hells” envisioned by the children are rather amusing and include ideas that would easily surpass the imagination of adults.