Shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2019, Teppei Yamada’s Apart and / or Together is an attempt to visualise the mercurial, volatile process of cultural homogenisation. It was born from a study that constructs and deconstructs contemporary society.

The work consists of 10 different heartbeats, which are reminders of the real human lives rendered invisible in discussions around national identity, ethnic difference, citizenship, multiculturalism, migration and refugees. As the artist explains: “The goal is to better understand each other by what we have in common, rather than what we do not.”

See the work at the Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2019, on view at York Art Gallery from 8 March-14 July. Find out more here.

Image courtesy the artist.