Yayoi Kusama Research

January 6th, 2021

I wanted to research Yayoi Kusama because her work is all about enveloping the space and a common motif of hers is mirrors. I was considering how I could possibly utilize the mirror ball in accordance to a painting. I wanted the painting and mirror ball to interact in a way which creates a new environment on the mirror ball (this would mean I have to work smart about how I display them to get the most surface area of painting reflected on the mirror ball)

Some key paragraphs from the article with highlighted key interest points. Bolded text is written notes based off research.

She lost herself in other ways as the 1960s progressed. For one piece in 1966 she walked though some of the rougher neighbourhoods of the city, dressed in full Japanese national costume: kimono, white painted face, her plaited hair fixed with flowers and carrying an ornate parasol. The odyssey is captured in photos. Partly Kusama wanted to present herself as an outsider. Partly she wanted to project her singular identity as far and wide as she could (she had a Warhol-esque mania for fame). She hijacked the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966 with Narcissus Garden, a lake of 1,500 reflective balls in which the viewer’s face was infinitely multiplied. She sold the balls for $2 each, “your narcissism for sale” read the ad, a gesture that foretold the artwork as selfie. The Biennale authorities stopped the performance, objecting to “selling art like hot dogs or ice-cream cones”.

I am somewhat familiar with her work, but have not heard of Narcissus Garden. She also uses mirror balls , but her connotation with it is narcissism and the loving of one's image. This paired with consumerism and art.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/sep/23/yayoi-kusama-infinity-film-victoria-miro-exhibition

In 1965, she mounted her first mirror installation Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli’s Field at Castellane Gallery in New York (left). A mirrored room without a ceiling was filled with colorfully dotted, phallus-like stuffed objects on the floor. The repeated reflections in the mirrors conveyed the illusion of a continuous sea of multiplied phalli expanding to its infinity. This playful and erotic exhibition immediately attracted the media’s attention.

The pinnacle of her succès de scandale culminated in the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966. Although Kusama was not officially invited to exhibit, according to her autobiography, she received the moral and financial support from Lucio Fontana and permission from the chairman of the Biennale Committee to stage 1,500 mass-produced plastic silver globes on the lawn outside the Italian Pavilion. The tightly arranged 1,500 shimmering balls constructed an infinite reflective field in which the images of the artist, the visitors, the architecture, and the landscape were repeated, distorted, and projected by the convex mirror surfaces that produced virtual images appearing closer and smaller than reality. The size of each sphere was similar to that of a fortune-teller’s crystal ball. When gazing into it, the viewer only saw his/her own reflection staring back, forcing a confrontation with one's own vanity and ego.

During the opening week, Kusama placed two signs at the installation: “NARCISSUS GARDEN, KUSAMA” and “YOUR NARCISSIUM [sic] FOR SALE” on the lawn. Acting like a street peddler, she was selling the mirror balls to passers-by for two dollars each, while distributing flyers with Herbert Read’s complimentary remarks about her work on them. She consciously drew attention to the “otherness” of her exotic heritage by wearing a gold kimono with a silver sash. The monetary exchange between Kusama and her customers underscored the economic system embedded in art production, exhibition and circulation. The Biennale officials eventually stepped in and put an end to her “peddling.” But the installation remained.[2] Her interactive performance and eye-catching installation garnered international press coverage. This original installation of Narcissus Garden from 1966 has been frequently interpreted by many as both Kusama’s self-promotion and her protest of the commercialization of art. [3]

In her first infinity room, she used phallic imagery as the imagery which would be reproduced and multiplied. Perhaps I can focus on a repetition of imagery in my work to represent it's overwhelming-ness. I considered the mirror as a representation of identity and self, similar to her Narcissus Garden, though I am understanding that I can consider the idea of infinity as well with the mirrors. Within the context of using imagery from Derek Jarman's Caravaggio, which used imagery from Caravaggio, there is an ongoing idea of the continual chain in which artists pick up work from prior generations to innovate and create new things. Caravaggio was suspected a homosexual and works with sexual themes and dramatic lighting, which is prominent in my work, and Derek Jarman, a known homosexual and filmmaker also introduced elements which is also prominent to my work. So the question stands, what do I add on to this chain, as Derek Jarman did to Caravaggio? Perhaps my Asian culture? Even so, I have to consider that I may be having two canvases facing each other, what does that mean. I'm thinking it could be as if you're looking in the mirror, they could both be representations of self. What aspects of self do I want to focus on?

The work Narcissus Garden by Kusama also has an element of a reflective mirror ball, though mine is slightly larger. She aims to confront the viewer's ego and vanity, while using her culture as a means to attract people in and pique their interest. This makes me consider that my two paintings could be about my culture, the two sides, my side where I feel disconnected, and the side where I feel connected to my culture. This tableaux of these two paintings, representational of self, the internal struggle/confliction is interesting as both canvases are facing one another, like viewing itself in a mirror. Both sides of being connected and disconnected to my culture being forced to face one another. This is interesting as the repetition in the reflections somewhat melds these two sides together to create one, which is the self as a whole, yet divided when viewed externally at the entire work.

Yayoi Kusama, Narcissus Garden (article) | Khan Academyhttps://www.khanacademy.org › modernity-ap › yayoi-...

The Garden has been repeated many times in several parts of the world, but unlike in the first one, the artist is absent. Still, the show is just as impressive. In 2009 for instance, the Narcissus Garden was installed upon a pond in Brazil. Due to the changing course of the wind, the orbs constantly changed positions. Another interesting installation of the Narcissus Garden was in New York in 2018. As part of the Rockaway festival, the shiny orbs brought an interesting twist to an ordinarily decaying scene and graffiti.

The changing locations of Narcissus Garden makes me consider where I could display the work. (Look into the story of Narcissus)

https://publicdelivery.org/yayoi-kusama-narcissus/

Research

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