https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg Yayoi Kusama en-us 2022-02-22 04:55:03 UTC 2026-03-16 23:35:05 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f3a8.png sallieannseiders https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059863644 I've studied, analyzed, and researched Yayoi Kusama for years now. When receiving this assignment, I knew I had to critique one of her infamous infinity mirrored rooms. After much deliberation, the Phalli's Field installation caught my eye. Yayoi Kusama created the infinity room in New York in 1965, and to this day, it is revolutionary as it is one of Kusama's first infinity room installations. Yayoi designed this infinity room using mirrors and stuffed cotton shaped like phalluses and then immersed the room in red polka dots. Yayoi's deliberate incorporation of these phalluses covered in polka dots holds an underlying meaning back to her childhood. Born in Japan, Yayoi Kusama incurred a traumatic childhood experience that stuck with her forever. She constantly witnessed her father having an affair with her mother, creating a horrific fascination with phalluses at a young age. She once said, "the sexual obsession and fear of sex sit side by side in me (The Collector- The Infinity Artist)." The use of repetition is to demonstrate how Yayoi feels when she views patterns. She named this sensation self-obliteration- when a pattern continues to grow and takes over the surrounding space. Yayoi's attempt to recreate this feeling for her viewers became long and strenuous, thus her inventive use of the mirror. The mirrors sped up the process and helped generate the overwhelming, never-ending pattern feeling Yayoi was trying to convey. These mirrors "allowed her vision to transcend the physical limitations of her productivity (Yayoi Kusama Infinity mirror Rooms- Hirshhorn Museum)." All of these elements complement each other to create Phalli's Field.  ]]> 2022-02-22 04:59:45 UTC https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059863644 sallieannseiders https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059866070 A photo of Yayoi herself. ]]> 2022-02-22 05:01:57 UTC https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059866070 sallieannseiders https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059867443 Has anyone had the pleasure of experiencing an infinity room? It is on my bucket list. If so, share below. ]]> 2022-02-22 05:03:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059867443 sallieannseiders https://padlet.com/sallieannseiders/cpxp0jpfwaihjplg/wish/2059869131 The Artist uses the art to demonstrate life and express the mental illnesses and trauma she's combated. It means instigating the fear of your surroundings but no escape, much like mental illness. Once you are in the room, the illusion makes it seem like the viewer is trapped forever. Then, the patterns take over your mind putting you in a hallucinogenic state. Yayoi stimulates the feelings associated with her mental illness to demonstrate a life lived with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, or schizophrenia. To me, the phalluses would overwhelm me and make me feel small and insignificant. Much how our male-dominated society today can cause a 20-year-old woman to feel. After viewing the piece multiple times, I've become more comfortable with the phalluses, and I don't feel that they have any extreme power over me. Yayoi is using her art to emphasize feminism. The piece makes me feel uneasy, sexualizing men, but the message of feminism is important to me. Therefore, in some way, I relate to the work.

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