Yoshinari Nishiki

Economy , Ecology , Digital technology , Artistic research

Yoshinari Nishiki (Inari for short) has been investigating alternative value systems across the fields of labor, currency, logistics, and supply chains, analyzing how value is created, circulated, and recognized. As a culmination of his art projects, since October 2024, Inari has been remotely pursuing a PhD in engineering at NAIST (Japan) while being based in Rotterdam, focusing on product-making rooted in the concept of non-production. His current research examines ecolabels and environmental claims, seeking to uncover forms of resource and material that remain largely unknown to people.

Panjancontainer (2019) - A manual system that allows a single person to flip a full-scale 20ft shipping container (The Green Village, Delft, The Netherlands, 2019) photo: Luuk Smits
Overture: Carrying Power (2018) - Moving a (potato) mountain by a food courier service outside the app (TodaysArt, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2018) photo: Martijn Beekman
EROI Drink (2020 - 2024) - An energy drink made from Japanese Knotweed, an invasive alien plant pervasive in the Netherlands (Almere Oogst, Almere, The Netherlands, 2021). still image: Urban Greeners
Off-the-shelf MOCHI
Off-the-shelf MOCHI (2024) - “Off-the-Shelf Mochi” captures a moment too good to be true — like a mochi rolling off a shelf and landing directly in your mouth as you walk by. At the post-capitalist gym, you can train your sense of premonition by literally chasing “Off-the-Shelf Mochi” with a specially designed contingent-momentum training machine. The project was newly commissioned by the International Festival of Computer Arts (IFCA, or MFRU in Slovenian). The piece was primarily made from found materials on site, in a space that used to be a casino.
I Walked Here — 100% on Foot, 0 Footprint
I Walked Here — 100% on Foot, 0 Footprint (2025) - I Walked Here was a meta project that operated at the foundational level of an art festival. At Artbomb 2025, badges were awarded to visitors who walked to the festival. By wearing a badge, they received additional discounts at participating shops. The idea was to over-reward people who walk, playfully mocking the typical electric vehicle tagline, “100% Electric, 0 Emissions.”

Clean Pollution

Date:
Location: Oranjeboomstraat 109 3071 SC Rotterdam
In association with: The Orange Tree Art Project (TOT)

What if we reversed the process of an electric vehicle: polluting throughout production, but emitting nothing in the end?

Empirically, we separate “clean” and “polluted” on a daily basis to make sense of what is safe to consume and what is good for our environment. But in reality, these concepts are much more entangled.

In a one-day outdoor exhibition, Inari demonstrates the concept of “Clean Pollution” through multisensory experiences framed in conceptually challenging ways.

Open 12–18 pm.

https://irational.org/inari/c_p/

Without Destination

Date:
Location: Verbeke Foundation
In association with: Verbeke Foundation

Panjancontainer (2019), a project supported by CBK Rotterdam, was presented in the main hall of the exhibition space as part of Without Destination. Documentation of the project was selected and edited by the foundation's curators, and a new documentation video was produced for the show.

https://verbekefoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/plattegrond-%E2%80%94-Zomertentoonstelling-2025_TS.pdf

(UN)MAKING IT HAPPEN – Exhibition + Concept Store

Date:
Location: 38CC
In association with: 38CC

An energy drink made from Japanese knotweed, a smartphone destroyer, and a car made of willow branches—all of it can be seen in the exhibition (un)making it happen.
Through projects by a selection of international artists and designers, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the systems and objects around us. What do we value, and what do we consider worthless?
As part of the exhibition, the (un)making concept store opened in a retail space within walking distance of 38CC.

(un)maker Faire

Date:
Location: TU Delft, Stadhuis Eindhoven
In association with: TU Delft Science Centre, Maker Faire Delft, Maker Faire Eindhoven

(un)maker Faire is a new vending practice that stemmed from Maker Faire, a DIY making culture originated by Make Magazine in the US. While they celebrated the power of creativity in amateur people at Maker Faire, (un)maker Faire disseminated the creative avoidance of production. Critical Making was a movement that came between the Maker movement and unmaking, eventually paving the way for (un)making practices.

https://irational.org/inari/unmakerfaire/

MSR = HAAG SAEZ (Minamisanriku = Hague Special Art Experiment Zone)

Date:
Location: Virtual
In association with: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media, Minamisanriku Learning Center

MSR = HAAG SAEZ is an ethereal territory conceived precisely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world where intercontinental travel has been restricted (now with new reasons), a way to carry on and even go beyond the current paradigm of internationality is sought after. In 2021, two artists Aydee Derix and Piet Verkleij took up summer-autumn residencies in MSR=HAAG SAEZ to produce a new kind of travel experience. It resulted in a PACKAGE (or a kit) with a QR CODE attached to it.

https://irational.org/inari/msr-haag/

Single Container Transport (SCT) - ACT1: Panjancontainer - A Manual Last-Mile Delivery

Date:
Location: The Green Village
In association with: TU Delft, K-tainer, Buitink Technology, haacon, Klomp and Gijzen
http://irational.org/inari/act1
This artist has no awards yet.