Presentation of "Aki Sasamoto is Feeling Stretched"

Our latest episode for the New York Close Up series has been released: "Aki Sasamoto is Feeling Stretched". The short film offers a portrait of artist Aki Sasamoto as she ponders the following question: How far can an artist bend without breaking? The result is the artist's latest performance and installation "Yield Point", finding unexpected connections between the tension of stretched materials and the stresses we experience in everyday life. 

Mirroring the artist’s own stream of conscious logic and deadpan humor, the documentary follows Sasamoto as she uses a mechanical stress testing machine at Rutgers University, tours a dumpster warehouse in Queens, and performs in Chelsea’s renowned arts space, The Kitchen. Like the materials she pulls apart, Sasamoto resists bending to expectations and refuses an easy explanation of her subjects—instead trusting the creative process to yield its own truths. 

Made in collaboration with Art21, our film series New York Close Up features intimate portraits of artists that live and work in New York City during the first decade of their professional career.