Wednesday 14 March 2012

Yayoi Kusama Exhibition

Running from 9th February until 6th June (and very fashionably supported by Louis Vuitton), Tate Modern's Yayoi Kutsama Exhibition is something I'm desperately excited to experience. After having seen so many images of her work, the opportunity to have a physical relationship is one that I cannot miss out on, despite being quite new to her work. 'Infinity Mirrored Room - Filled with the Brilliance of Life' sounds as fascinating as the photographs.


"The walls and ceiling of the room are mirrored, and the floor features a shallow pool of water. Visitors walk through the room on a walkway made of mirrored tiles. Hanging from the ceiling are hundreds of small, round LED lights that flash on and off in different colour configurations. The pinpricks of light in the otherwise darkened room appear to reflect endlessly in the mirrors, giving the viewer the experience of being in an apparently endless space, broken only by points of light in the darkness." - Tate Blog

I've been studying Freud again in my Aesthetics Module (BA History of Art); perhaps its because I've been reading his work that this Infinity Mirrored Room has reminded me of some of his ideas. When I imagine how one must feel inside this space, I imagine it to be a solitary experience, regardless of any other people around you. The totally surrounding visual would completely fascinate me, and to indulge in that fascination (to personally appreciate the space) I would have to quietly take it all in on my own. Quite simply, and also quite generally, this idea makes me think of Freud's discussion of the unconscious. This is particualarly relevent, as the seemingly obsessive notion of Accumulation within the Kusama's practice directly relates to the theme of psychological trauma which runs throughout her work (Kusama voluntarily lives in a psychiatric institution, and has done for many years). Freud's interest in psycho-analysis and the investigation of the unconscious and the psyche certainly relate to the context of Kusama's work, especially if one considers her Infinity Mirror Room to feel like some kind of dream.

The accumulation of visuals that it reminded me of are pretty trendy. Perhaps that why Louis Vuitton wanted in on the exhibition. On the other hand, they may have simply wanted to support something so beautiful.







In addition, I imagine the experience of being in Kusama's space must be like being suspended, weightless, free. At one. Immediately, the place I feel like that is in the mountains, or when I'm watching the sunset at home.