Dai Asano (b. 1996, Japan) is a New York–based artist whose practice merges art with everyday life. He explores transparent art–experiences that cannot be seen or represented, only lived.

Through the “recipes” formed in his daily practice, he offers an alternative speed for people to inhabit, expressed through simple actions such as picking up litter.

Asano holds an MFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design. He was a fellow of the 2025 NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program and a resident at the Watermill Center’s International Summer Program in 2024. His work has been presented at venues including the Watermill Center, Ford Foundation Live Gallery, Microscope Gallery, and the Dye House.

PROJECT : HIRAYAMA PRACTICE

Today, we are constantly asked to justify our actions with reason and purpose. We rush simply for the sake of rushing, losing touch with the original purpose of our own lives.

What was it?

Hirayama Practice is an everyday act of slowing down and returning to the present. Every morning, I pick up litter and sweep the street in front of my apartment. This small, repeated gesture has quietly changed the neighborhood around me. People stop to say hello. A café owner offers me a cup of coffee. It feels like a simple gift of humanity, something that has nothing to do with who you are.

I wonder what might happen if more people in New York installed this practice into their everyday lives.