Introduction:

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The series “(im)possible dialogue” is one of Yoshida’s core artistic practices. It has been presented both as a performance and as a video installation. The structure is simple: two people talk to each other. The only rule is that they do not share a common mother language.

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At first, a conversation between two people speaking entirely different languages seems impossible. Yet as the exchange unfolds, the two monologues begin to resonate. Moments occasionally emerge in which a form of communication—one that does not rely on semantic understanding—seems to come into view.

 

This simple setup opens up many possible layers of communication, where misunderstanding—or even not understanding—may still have a place within the dialogue and quietly continue beyond cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Within such coexistence, a kind of “understanding” not based on linguistic meaning may begin to take shape. The performance is often conducted one-on-one between Yoshida and a participant, without any recording. The absence of a shared language creates an unexpected sense of freedom: at times leading to candid confessions, and at other times drifting into unexpected forms of exchange.

 

Rather than relying on a dominant or shared language, the work creates a space of linguistic fairness, where both participants remain fully within their own languages and cultural backgrounds. In this space, new forms of encounter and relationship have the possibility to emerge.