New media artist Kentaro Yamada produces artworks that are at once seamlessly effective and seductively simple. His neat execution and flowing style provoke a serenity reflective of his Fukuoka roots. In the video above, called Parallel Parking, Yamada provides a sharp focus on the mundane yet calculated process of parallel parking. Shot with three HDV cameras attached along a steal rod, the video demonstrates a wide shot of different perspectives: slightly overlapping at first, then evolving into a montage from various locations. This 80-second loop was designed to be viewed on three video projections to heighten the emphasis on differing yet synchronous viewpoints. Through this work, Yamada explains his interest in the beauty of movements and forms, as well as the calculation and imagination involved in a simple everyday act.With a similarly acute focus, Yamada examines the natural grace that human movement incorporates. In A Walk, embedded above, three points of view remain fixed to show a multi-layered meditation on the mechanics most of us perform automatically, without a hint of consideration.Recently, Yamada has elevated his video works to different mediums. In Horizontal No. 3, he installs a 69×3×30cm plexiglass platform against a gallery wall with an LCD monitor placed behind it, projecting a looping image of a sunset. Seen through the plexiglass, the distorted sunset turns into a light beam that gleams with sublime simplicity.Calm yet effortlessly powerful, the works of Kentaro Yamada convey a focus on the minute details of every day life from the movement of our bodies to the movement of the sun.
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Multi-Perspective Films Elevate Everyday Actions To High Art
The video works of Kentaro Yamada are calm, synchronous, and multi-perspective masterpieces.