0001 Collected

Since moving Yoshi’s many boxes, crates and bags to Limehouse Town Hall in September 2022, we have met up regularly to work together. The sorting of collected artwork, cameras, photographs, tools and research continue proportionally. The bulk of photographic periodicals, raw materials and junk equipment were abandoned for disposal alongside the paper, plastic and metals ready for recycling back at his flat.

Thirty years of journals, mostly written in Japanese, legal papers tracing disputes, international correspondence, camera manuals and books have all been retained.

Yoshi reached the UK by his thirties during the 70’s so most of the stack relates to his life in Britain, although some boxes are marked for passage from Japan.

There is a lot of film based media, 5X4″, 60mm, 35mm, negatives and thousands of slides. We have yet to look at many trays of 35mm prints, boxes of A4 mono, colour and large format photographs to review. Alongside the sculptures are their schematics, sketches and construction notes.

Sculptures were built with recovered and reprocessed resources, rescued from the street and sorted at home. Mesh physical forms and wire outlines, trace fantastic creatures and curvaceous torso’s. Some automate shadow projection and illuminated colour mixing, others play with perception and peddle humor to express inspiration and explore ideas.

Of the amassed cameras, many were cannibalized, refashioned or mutated to accommodate custom lenses, cross-pollinated optics and plasticised re-fabrications.

Others map an evolution of process and adaptation to churning progress. He turned away from commercial exploitation of ideas and image, to open research. Less concerned with focus more interested in syncopation!

This refactoring was done with the use of many specialised, traditional, crafted, unusual even dangerous tools for construction and customisaton of controllers, repurposed electronics, LED’s, stepped motors and punished hydraulics.