Expedition Kusama (2015)

This past week, I left work a bit early to catch "Give Me Love", an exhibition of Yayoi Kusama's work at the David Zwirner Gallery.  Like the Infinity Room (Expedition Kusama), there was a line to see the Obliteration Room.  it wasn't nearly as time-consuming (20 minutes vs. 3 hours) and they gave you about 4 minutes in the room itself vs. 45 seconds.  Most folks seemed to take 10_ minutes (us included).


The room is housed in a facade -- American flag included -- that could be the front of any house in any American suburb.   Once inside, you are in something more akin to a small NYC studio with a living room on one end and a kitchen on the other.  We were given a sheet of brightly colored dots as we entered the room --  and visitors can place the dots anywhere in the room including on our own clothing, face, shoes, whatever.  Yes, that is me above.    It's fun, it's festive, and exactly what I've come to expect from Kusama.  They collect unused dots as you leave the Obliteration Room -- causing us to wonder what the Zwirner Galery did with them.

In addition to participating in creating the room, visitors also signed off on our images being used in subsequent art projects involving videos and photos.  Hmm, I'll have to watch out for that project!

Give Me Love also features a room full of polka dotted pumpkins laid out on a bare concrete floor as well as a collection of canvases from Kusama.  I love those pumpkins and hope they show up in the permanent collection of the Whitney (they have a lot of new space to fill) or the Modern.

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