About
What is the Value of art?
Who decides it, and how?
About
What is the Value of art?
Who decides it, and how?
What is the value of art?
YAMI-ICHI (‘Black market’ in Japanese) started from this simple but important question.
We challenge the current perception of art as a commodity in a capitalistic art market by designing a space where various ways of valuing art can be exchanged more freely.
YAMI-ICHI is an international art project that replicates a traditional art auction, but replaces cash payments with non-monetary trade-offs and exchanges.
The project encourages young and emerging artists to re-evaluate how their work can be perceived and connect them with potential clients or future collaborators.
どんな体験
どんな体験
So...what exactly happens in this auction?
check out our short INTRO video!
UPCOMING EVENTS
EVENT ARCHIVE
UPCOMING EVENTS
EVENT ARCHIVE
YAMI-ICHI and Exotero hosted a programme Traversing Borders between 22 April - 8 May 2021!
Traversing Borders was a participatory, digital programme to help emerging and underrepresented artists find their footing in the art industry.
As part of the programme, we hosted a series of online events, which culminated in our non-monetary art auction!
FULL PROGRAMME
FINISHED EVENTS
April 22, 18:00pm – BEYOND THE PRICE TAG Webinar Panel Discussion (WATCH THE FULL SESSION)
April 24, 12:00pm – Studio Tour with Shani Haquin (IGTV LIVE at @yamiichi_art)
April 24, 17:30pm – Work Mud, Play Bingo with Rebecca Tucker
April 24, 19:00pm – What We Do At Parties with Henry Blackwell
May 1, 12:00pm – Artist talk by Henry Blackwell (IG LIVE at @exoterocollective)
May 1, 14:00pm – Artist talk by Mernywernz (IG LIVE at @yamiichi_art)
May 3, 13:00pm – Artist talk by Becky & Shani (Conversation between two artists on IG LIVE at @yamiichi_art @exoterocollective)
Digital content by artist Mernywernz
May 8, 15:00pm : Non-Monetary Art Auction
MEET THE ARTISTS
Here are four amazing participating artists!
You can see their artworks and examples of their ideal offers.
What would you offer in exchange for your favourite piece?
REBECCA TUCKER
I’m a sculptor living and working in Glasgow. My practice revolves around finding ways to represent duality and paradox with recurring themes of body, character, object, indulgence and guilt. I explore these themes through recurring motifs and symbols. I work in a variety of different media including drawing and moving image but at the moment my primary focus is working with ceramic. I throw on the wheel and hand build – any excuse to play with mud!
The artwork up for offer
Snake & Hand Vase from Dual
35 x 28 x 28cm, Glazed Stoneware. 2020
This vessel is from a mixed media installation called Dual. Dual is an exploration in coupling the animate with the inanimate. The work aims to suggest movement and characterful relationship through static objects. This piece is glazed stoneware and it can be sited indoors or outdoors, it can be used functionally as a vase if desired. This work will be supplied with a signed giclee print of the artwork Dual.
Double Snake Vase from Slough series
28 x 18 x 18cm, Glazed Stoneware. 2020
This vase is from a series of works called Slough. The symbol of the snake has vastly differing connotations across cultures and eras. Slough reuses and reinterprets the tradition of using the form of the snake in ceramic. Slough intends to open a dialogue surrounding the ever-changing meaning and interpretation of symbols. This work is glazed stoneware and can be sited indoors or outdoors.
Exciting Offers for BECKY
Exhibition opportunity
Unusual space to install/photograph work
Assistance in photographing work in future projects
Collaborative projects
I love motorbikes, food and horses so anything to do with those!
AUCTION RESULT (THE OFFERS Becky CHOSE!)
3-5 course meal of your choice & Return tickets to Amsterdam!
Art collaboration with a Photography & 3D artist+ Instagram filters for the work
HENRY BLACKWELL
I’m 21. I’m 900,000 years old. I’m an artist. I’m a brother. I’m a comedian. I’m a worker. I’m an eater. I’m a drinker. I’m a chef. I’m a painter. I’m a son. I’m a sleeper. I’m a writer. I’m not an Everyman, I am every man. I work largely with performative interventions in public spaces. Subtle reimagining’s of what is possible on and in the land that surrounds me; can one party in a building site or play on a dance machine in the garden? My work deals with local history, invented history, labour, overwhelm, gesture, leisure and how we spend our free time, the commodification of this ‘leisure time’ and recontextualising the actions associated with fun and freedom and joy. It's a choreographed party and my body is the only guest. Central to most of this work though is an exploration of narrative, place and time, language/communication and movement (of objects and people).
WATCH HENRY’S PERFORMANCES FROM HERE
The artwork up for offer
video, 3 mins 3 secs
What We Do at Parties is available as a piece of collaborative performance. Henry will come and run the workshop, What We Do At The Partieswhere a similar piece of work will be made, for you, your friends, your colleagues, your family, or any other groups you may want. The original video is up for auction also but how and where the work is shown must be discussed with the artist prior to its display.
This Hole Is A Hell Hole
acrylic on canvas, 65cm x 80 cm
This Hole Is A Hell Hole is a painting about now. It is about isolation and overwhelm but also a playful attempt at finding humour through the manipulation of language usually associated with hopelessness and pessimism.
Exciting Offers for HENRY
Access to a choir to perform a piece of work for me
Studio space in a foreign city – allowing access to new spaces and histories to inform new work
A network rail pass – in order to travel easily to new places to make and perform work
Access to dancers to perform and choreograph work with me
AUCTION RESULT (The offers henry chose!)
Access to a choir to perform a piece of work for Henry
Access to a dancer to perform and choreograph work with Henry
SHANI HAQUIN
I am a painter and artist working and living in London. I take my inspiration from human experiences, currently focusing on images I took in different protests taking place in my home country, Israel. My work explores the material aspect of painting as physical, intellectual, and emotional labour. I try to create paintings that are colorful, semi-figurative yet with abstract elements, featuring crowds of people engaging in a shared powerful experience.
Instagram: @haquinshani
The artwork for offer:
Was It All
70cm X 100cm, oil painting, vanished, 2021
For over two weeks, I worked on this painting, in which I combined seven images from different protests featuring a variety of individuals and subjects. With this painting, I aimed to create a sense of absorbing and immersive experiences that merged into one experience when gazing.
Exciting Offers for SHANI
Free studio space for the summer (June/ July/ August).
Art Materials (Oil colours, canvases, mediums and brushes.)
One and a half month rent-free room.
A solo show
A press and social media management with followers.
AUCTION RESULT (THE OFFERS SHANI CHOSE!)
Rent free accommodation in Barcelona for 3 weeks!
MERNYWERNZ
I am documenting an ongoing artistic exploration of the emergent post truth, post internet age of technology we are living through and its potential side effects. My images are informed by the veracity of online meme culture, a cynical world view and a love of technical illustrations and diagrams. My style is vibrant and frenetic. It may appear naive, but contains intricate details and pertinent critiques of our times. My portfolio of cryptic diagrams, nonsensical cutaways and frenzied murals aim to embrace imperfection and encourage a sense of creative and technical nonchalance.
Most recent work produced since early 2020 deals with the unavoidable presence of our friend, covid19, and the absence of certainty and abundance of hopelessness. Of particular interest to me is the rise of online conspiracies and misinformation. The impression that people no longer know what is real and are becoming increasingly divided by their ideological commitments. A growing crisis, which is being facilitated by tech corporations and dreaded “algorithms”.
Website: https://mernywernz.com/
Instagram: @mernywernz
Merny has written a journal about the Traversing Borders programme. READ THE ARTICLE
The artwork up for offer
Tips For Nice Life Part No1
A4, Watercolour & Gouache, 2021
The first instalment of a series inspired by an Indian poster showing ways to be a good child. I adapted the illustration to show the boy paying no attention to his surroundings and reaching straight for his smart phone. The instruction is ironic as we all know that waking up and looking at our phones is an unhealthy thing that we have all ended up doing.
Friendly Priest
A3, Watercolour & Gouache, 2021
In this piece I was experimenting with voicing criticisms that are public knowledge but trying to put them in a blunt way. I attacked Prince Andrew in a wall and decided I resent the way organised religion amasses wealth and in my opinion profits off essentially misleading people and at the same time perpetrating abuse. I wanted to try and express this opinion in a shocking way, which would make people laugh but also have the potential to offend some people. No one got offended though, unfortunately.
Exciting Offers for MERNY
A stay on a boat or another interesting location to get inspired by
Help getting my work into shops, gallery or reach a wider audience
Opportunities to paint a large wall or produce further projects
Sponsorship for materials
An unusual experience or activity
AUCTION RESULT (THE OFFERS Merny CHOSE!)
Rent free accommodation in East London for 2 weeks!
Rent free accommodation (+dinner) in rural Italy for 1 week!
Past Events
CHEck out amazing artists and their works FROM
yami-ichi x YBI Amsterdam EVENT IN 2018!
Past Events
CHEck out amazing artists and their works FROM
yami-ichi x YBI Amsterdam EVENT IN 2018!
Here are four participating artists in the YAMI-ICHI x YBI Amsterdam 2018.
You can find their artworks and the winning offers!
If you were a bidder, what would you offer in exchange for their amazing artworks?
James hewitt / Camille Verhaak
We often think that our 'identity', and our 'personality', is something fixed which controls our life and destiny. Yet we all shift roles throughout our life -different people see different things in us as important, and we respond accordingly. Hence we can see that our 'identity' is not really 'us', but rather the perception of us which then shapes what we do...
Our performance is called "Identity Shifts" (will be performed in Live Art Night on 9th June). It is a performance in music and movement using masks, in which the performers become characters, and then play with how to shape and break the expectations created by each character. The identities of the characters change and shift during the piece -or maybe, it is just different perceptions of the same character?
http://damucollective.weebly.com/ http://www.jameshewittmusic.co.uk
The artwork up for offer
We can offer various things. For example...
A performance
House concert
A workshop
A composition
Exciting Offers for James and camille
For Examples…
Someone (or Places) to make a video
Performance opportunities
Rehearsal space
Raoul Rade
My artworks play with the digital possibilities for reproducing craft techniques and producing several versions of a single work. If a single authenticity related to a ‘true self’ no longer holds the centre of an artwork, each copy opens up a new space for experimentation as each artwork acquires meaning by its own context and not by being connected to a single source of truth. The artworks I want to offer in the auction are digital paintings printed on canvas. The fact that people always mistake them for water colour paintings works well within the current theme of the Authentic Fake. The designs are made to represent real paint using digital means. By doing so I am trying to blur the lines between the ‘real' and ‘fake'.
http://www.raoulrade.nl Instagram: @raoulrade
The artwork up for offer
‘Pasion’-Digital painting on canvas (left)
‘Magoa’ -Digital painting on canvas (middle)
‘The Blue Stag’ -Digital painting on canvas (right)
Exciting Offers for raoul
I would love offers that are artsy or creative. For example...
The opportunity for a video making or photoshoot
Anything related to music
Professional piano lessons
![mágoa [tempest] 40x40 (1).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/588228263e00be0d393f6479/1527965844364-03JDFIGLTBD1MRGJN0T2/ma%CC%81goa+%5Btempest%5D+40x40+%281%29.jpg)
Skye phillips
I work primarily with intaglio printmaking and as someone who works very hands on with materials, I enjoy process - engaging with the metals, acids, papers, inks and presses. Recently making my own inks from natural pigment grown in Amsterdam and in the past making my own recycled paper to print onto. I look at the themes surrounding space and environment, reflecting areas of concerns such as the relationship between the unnatural the natural environment. Living by the sea in Brighton, UK, I have studied concrete architecture and structures that are by the ocean such as barriers and steps, and abandoned concrete structures such as war bunkers and have created a series of artworks that are inspired by questions and concerns I wanted to explore visually.
http://www.skyephillipsprint.com
Instagram: @skyephillipsprint
The artwork for offer:
‘Edgelands’ -Etching, print
‘Crashing wave’ -Etching, print
‘The Wave’ -Etching, print
Exciting Offers for skye
Anything that enabled me to make more artwork or exhibit. For example...
Material sponsor from an art supplier
The opportunity to exhibit in another place
The opportunity to create artwork in another printmaking studio
The opportunity to go to Japan to create artwork
Archive
ARCHIVE
Archive
ARCHIVE
RESEARCH PROCESS
Photos
CONTACT US
CONTACT US
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TEAM YAMIICHI
TEAM YAMI-ICHI
TEAM YAMIICHI
TEAM YAMI-ICHI
Team YAMI-ICHI (闇市)
Sachiko Osawa started a self-initiated project YAMI-ICHI in 2016 as part of her postgraduate project, with a passion to design a place where various ways of valuing art can be exchanged freely among artists and the public. Team YAMI-ICHI members then gathered to realise the idea. The project’s debut event was held in Tokyo in partnership with the local council and businesses in March 2017. This event attracted 700 visitors over three days and was covered by a variety of local media. Two more auctions were subsequently held in collaboration with London’s Camden Council using properties that had been, historically, vacant. In 2018, YAMI-ICHI travelled to Holland and held a multi-media event in collaboration with Young Blood Initiative, an Amsterdam based artist collective. Team YAMI-ICHI have organised their very first online auction in 2021 using Zoom which was hugely successful.
Members
Sachiko Osawa, Founder, Creative Director
Malina de Carlo, Auctioneer
Mandy Kershaw, Visual Artist, Illustrator
Kulay Labitigan, Illustrator, Narrative Designer
Koyal Raheja, Artist, Graphic Designer
Alia Josephine, Researcher, Writer
Adviser
GianLuca Amadei, British Council
Prof. Yasuhiro Tanaka, International Christian University, Tokyo Japan