COMM 380:  Media Criticism

by Tay Lim, '15

Major:  Media Production & Criticism

 

Is she crazy or is she brilliant? Many would think that this artist is crazy if they knew the

fact that she admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital and has been living there for over 30 years,

which she calls her home even until this day. Or it may even occur to some people when they

first see Yayoi Kusama’s bright red wig, bizarre yellow outfit, and her “polka-dotted”

wheelchair. Yayoi Kusama is 85 years old female Japanese artist, very well-known for her avant-

garde style paintings, sculptures, and installation art. In the early years of Kusama, she has

struggled with panic disorder and seen hallucinations of patterns. From Kusama's documentary

(2012), she states "When I was drawing, the pattern would expand outside of the canvas to fill

the floor and the wall. So when I looked far away, I would see a hallucination, and I would get

surrounded by that vision. And that’s how I become an environmental artist" She is an artist of

adversity which she conquered her struggle through obsession of polka dots in her art work. The

exhibit, "A Dream I Dreamed", represents her life struggle and it attempts to take the audience

into her strange world.

 

The exhibit

Held at the Seoul Arts Center in the Hangaram Art Museum, it has been extended extra

two more days than the original date due to popular demand. The admission is for all ages since

Kusama's colorful and child-like artwork can be seen playful. But once the story of her artwork

reveals, it is really not fit for young minds. Even before walking into the exhibit, the exterior of

the building is covered in colorful polka dots. Inside, the patrons of the exhibit are welcomed by

the big red polka-dotted balls where they can peak inside the ball, or even walk inside them and

find mirrored images of more and more dots.

 

On the second floor of the exhibit, big yellow pumpkins are displayed, again covered in

black polka dots. This piece is one of the most notorious artwork of Yayoi Kusama. It is known

that she has extreme fondness of "pumpkins" as they are symbol of her childhood. According to

Brooks (2012), a press release for the Sotheby's auction on October 7th, 2012 in Hong Kong

stated that, “Kusama’s family owned an entire storehouse full of pumpkins during World War II.

At the time, other food sources were scarce, so the artist developed a fondness for the bulbous

squash, which she sees as a symbol of growth and fertility." There are lots of souvenir items that

can be found with the yellow pumpkin motif at the exhibit shop from key chains, mug cups, to

tote bags.

 

The next art piece that looks like a red octopus leg sculpture has caused much

controversy in the past. This actually is another theme of her art that is depicting phalluses. It is

interesting to watch when children in the exhibit doesn't actually know what it is supposed to be

and wanting to take pictures in front of it when the adults who's read and heard about what it is

supposed to be can only keep quiet. The repetitive use of this symbol is not simply because she

liked it but because she was afraid of it. Kusama, "who has a sexual fear of the phallus that

comes from childhood experience, to use the object of fear repeatedly as a motif in her work was

an act aimed not so much at the liberation of women, generally, as it was intended to inform the

liberation of Kusama herself, in an example of ‘psychosomatic art’." (Kataoka, 2012)

 

On the third floor, you can walk into the "Infinity Mirrored Room-The Souls of Millions

of Light Years Away". It is a dark room, filled with over 70 small LED lights, hanging from the

ceilings, illuminated to look like little fireflies. According to Grimes (2013), "It is a reflection on

death and the afterlife. It is a planetarium contained in a room the size of a large walk-in closet.

Cosmic and intimate at the same time, it merges inner and outer space, science and mysticism,

the personal and the impersonal." About 40 to 45 seconds is all you can get in this fascinating

room, so it is a must to get a picture in before you are kicked out for the next group.

Something that may be considered as the highlight of the exhibit is the interactive

"Obliteration Room". It is a clean room with the walls covered in white and filled with white

furniture. The patrons of the exhibit are handed out polka dot stickers. They must take off their

shoes before entering the room. Once in the room, they are free to use the stickers and put them

on anywhere they like. The purpose of this room is to have everyone participate in what Kusama

calls, "obliteration". By having each visitor cover the room with polka dot stickers, the room is

being obliterated by polka dots.

 

Impact of Media Theory: Symbolic Interactionism

There are many examples of symbolic interactionism that can be found in this art exhibit.

Symbolic Interactionism by sociologist, George Herbert Mead as Hanson (2014) describes, is

"the process by which individuals produce meaning through interaction based on socially agreed-

upon symbols" (p.40). The most profound symbol used in this exhibit is repetitive "Dots".From

an interview done by BBC News Night in 2012, the host, Steve Smith asks Kusama Yayoi why

polka dots come out so often in her work and what about the polka dots interest her. Kusama

replied, "Please ask that to my hand. I have drawn lots of dots since I was a child and covered

my fashion and notebooks with dots. Dots are symbol of the world, the cosmos, and the earth is a

dot, the moon, the sun, and the stars are all made up of dots. You and me, we are all dots" (BBC

NewsNight 2012).

 

Conclusion

In Kusama's art works, it is all about symbolism through which she used to become

mentally and physically stable on her own. As audience of modern art, we play an important role

constructing meaning of an artwork. An art becomes meaningful when it is interpreted with our

own experience and opinions. Do I think Yayoi Kusama is crazy? After looking at her artwork

and reading about her life, I find her brilliant in a way how she was able to overcome her

sickness into something much more productive and beautiful. She may be that “crazy grandma”

that draws polka dots all over the place to some people but to me, she is a truly inspiring artist

and a living legend.

 

 

References

1. Brooks, K. (2012, October 4). Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin: Can You Guess How Much ItCosts?. The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2014, fromhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/can-you-guess-how-much-ya_n_1936864.html

2. Grimes, W. (2013, December 1). Lights, Mirrors, Instagram! #ArtSensation. The New YorkTimes. Retrieved June 16, 2014, fromwww.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/arts/design/yayoi-kusamas-mirrored-room-at-david-zwirner-gallery.html

3. Hanson, R. E. (2014). Mass Communication Effects: How Society and Media Interact. MassCommunication: Living in a Media World (4th ed., p. 40). Canada: SAGE.

4. Kataoka, M. (n.d.). YAYOI KUSAMA: AN INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS DIRECTED ATTHE COSMOS. Yayoi Kusama: An infinite consciousness directed at the cosmos.Retrieved June 16, 2014, fromhttp://interactive.qag.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/essays/infinite-consciousness-directed-at-the-cosmos/