Kusama: Infinity
Discussion Questions:
- In what ways do you see Yayoi Kusama merging the personal with the political?
- Often critiqued for as contradictory, Yayoi Kusama frequently states she makes art for herself, to cope with her mental illness, yet her performance art is directed to the public and addresses social issues at large. Do you feel her words contradict and detract from her work’s social and political messages or does her introspective, personal art-making process enhance universal issues and fuel discourse?
- Do you find Yayoi Kusama’s art biologically essentialist and limiting even though it has personal significance for her sexual aversion?
- Have you visited any of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Rooms on display at the Broad (or elsewhere)? What was your initial reaction? Has your reaction to her work changed after learning about her traumatic childhood (having an abusive mother) and difficult life (always on the verge of suicide, dealing with mental illness, etc.)?
Additional Resources
Sketch NOTES
Kusama-Infinity Sketch Note
-clear Title (should have artist’s name)
-clear layout /structure
-use of color
-hierarchy of text - headings, titles, category/subject (3 sizes)
-how can you use connectors? Arrows, lines, dashed lines
FORM-louis vuitton collab -commodification of art
-sketch of an artwork by Kusama that you found intriguing -title, media, year completed
-how would you describe her work? What are the repeated elements in her work that come up again and again?
CONTEXT -her life, her background, culture, what was happening in history at these chapters?
Joseph Cornell
Georgia O’Keeffe
Andy Warhol
Claes Oldenberg -she introduced him to textiles
Lucas Samaras-he copied the mirror infinity effect
Quotes from Kusama directly, quotes from people studying her work
THEME-what are the big ideas that Kusama was investigating in their work?
-OBLITERATION
-INFINITY
How does theme connect to context?
-clear Title (should have artist’s name)
-clear layout /structure
-use of color
-hierarchy of text - headings, titles, category/subject (3 sizes)
-how can you use connectors? Arrows, lines, dashed lines
FORM-louis vuitton collab -commodification of art
-sketch of an artwork by Kusama that you found intriguing -title, media, year completed
-how would you describe her work? What are the repeated elements in her work that come up again and again?
CONTEXT -her life, her background, culture, what was happening in history at these chapters?
Joseph Cornell
Georgia O’Keeffe
Andy Warhol
Claes Oldenberg -she introduced him to textiles
Lucas Samaras-he copied the mirror infinity effect
Quotes from Kusama directly, quotes from people studying her work
THEME-what are the big ideas that Kusama was investigating in their work?
-OBLITERATION
-INFINITY
How does theme connect to context?