iimawashi: Contemporary Art from Japan

Merz Gallery

Edinburgh International Festival Fringe 2005

Artists Name: Takayuki Yamamoto Title: teaching spoon bending Material: image from DVD Duration: 7mins17 secs 2004

Takayuki Yamamoto adopts many methods in his exploration of power and desire, researching ways in which these elements are used to manipulate people and circumstances. His work has previously allowed people to smoke where they are not allowed to and to drive when they do not own a car or a drivers licence. The video shown here is part of an ongoing series of workshops held in different countries. The participants are given the opportunity to practice the art of deception, in this case to bend the neck of a spoon as originally demonstrated by Uri Gellar .