Mai Yamashita & Naoto Kobayashi
Infinity
November 7- January 8, 2012
SCREEN Projects
To produce Infinity, video art duo Yamashita and Kobayashi jogged for five days in the pattern of an infinity sign until their footsteps inscribed the symbol in the flattened grass. Descended from artists who experiment with combinations of endurance and Land Art, such as Richard Long, Yamashita and Kobayashi employ nature as both the subject and medium of their work. Infinity’s simple repetitious structure is also tinged with humor. Although the grass will eventually grow back and disguise the infinity sign, the effort, like many repetitious daily rituals, is part of the process.
Mai Yamashita and Naoto Kobayashi were born in Chiba, Japan and live and work in Berlin. The duo has worked together since 2000. Both artists received a Masters from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Yamashita earned a Ph.D from the same university in 2009. They are currently artists in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in Brooklyn. Selected solo and group exhibitions include The Four Souvenirs and The Book, Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Going Mainstream, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; 2011 Yokohama Triennale, Japan; Re-imagining Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; and the 2007 Istanbul Biennial, among many others.