Catalogue > At random

Deepening confusion becomes a delightful experience watching this collaborative film by Daniel Jacoby and Araki Yu. The documentary observes the idiosyncratic sounds and rhythms of Ban’ei, a rare kind of draft horse race that takes place only in Obihiro, Japan. Capturing the behind-the-scenes operations of the race, the film gradually twists itself into a knot as the excited voices of the commentators merge into a frenzy of gibberish.

Daniel Jacoby (1985, Lima, Peru) and Yu Araki (1985, Yamagata, Japan) met in 2010 during a residency at Tokyo Wonder Site (Tokyo). Both their works have been highly influenced by their journeys. Fiction is often used by them as a tool to comprehend the puzzling cultural and socio-political differences across destinations. Their first film made as a duo is Mountain Plain Mountain (2017). This premiered and was awarded at the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition at IFFRotterdam in 2018. Daniel Jacoby graduated in fine arts from the University of Barcelona and furthered his education at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Recent exhibitions include venues like Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona), CRAC Alsace (Altkirch), EYE Film Institute (Amsterdam), The Banff Centre (Alberta), Kunsthal Chalottenborg (Copenhagen), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (Hamburg), 1646 (The Hague), Trafó (Budapest), and the 11th Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador). His films have been programmed in festivals such as 25FPS (Zagreb), BIM (Buenos Aires), MIEFF (Moscow), Go Short (Nijmegen), Sheffield Fringe (UK), Videobrasil (Sao Paulo), Les Rencontres Internationales (Paris), and Cairo Video Festival (Cairo). His film Jagata won the National Competition at Lima Independiente (Peru) in 2016. Daniel has participated in residency programs at Delfina Foundation (London), Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht), Casino Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Tokyo Wonder Site (Tokyo), among other places. Yu Araki received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis, U.S.A. in 2007, and completed his Master of Film and New Media Studies from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2010. In 2013, he was selected to participate in Tacita Dean Workshop hosted by Fundacio´n Boti´n in Santander, Spain. His films have been programmed in international festivals such as NIFF (Thailand), BFI London Film Festival (U.K.), The Weight of Mountains (Iceland), International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (Germany), Dong Fang (Italy), and MIFF (Russia). Recent exhibitions and screenings include Okayama Art Summit (Okayama, Japan), Yokoha- ma Museum of Art (Yokohama, Japan), The Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece), JIKKA (Tokyo, Japan), The Container (Tokyo, Japan), Washingtown (Mito, Japan), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), CAST (Tasmania, Australia), Tate Modern (London, U.K.), A*DESK (Barcelona, Spain), no.w.here (London, U.K.), Alternative Space LOOP (Seoul, South Korea), and Para/Site Art Space (Hong Kong). Araki has participated in residency programs at SNEHTA (Greece), Nes Artist Residency (Iceland), and Tokyo Wonder Site Aoyama (Japan), among other places. He lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.