亞洲現代與當代藝術 Modern and Contemporary Asian Art

“The way I see it, by living in a contemporary position, I’m just attempting to breath
in the atmosphere of the times and wanting to open up a bright red flower for the future.
It’s the same as the butterfly seeking out the barren mountains for its final destination
before death, the silkworm spitting out its silk in spring, or the flowers showing
off their vitality in brilliant colours.”
- Yayoi Kusama, Mugen no Ami : Yayoi Kusama Jiden
什 麼 都 不 能 實 現 , 如 果 只 有 一 個 圓 點 。 在 宇 宙 中 , 有 太 陽 , 月 亮 ,
地 球 和 數 億 顆 恆 星 。 在 這 樣 的 情 況 下 通 過 藝 術 追 求 的 宇 宙 哲 學 影 響
了 我 , 也 是 我 所 呈 現 的 重 複 。
When Yayoi Kusama left for the United States at the age of 28, she
might have simply sought sought to break free from her mother’s
grip and her country’s conservatism. As she has said herself, the
Yayoi Kusama we know today wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for
the US. For her, the fateful decision to move on to America remains
one of the most critical moments of her life. Yayoi Kusama’s works
range from painting and sculpture, to performance art, installation,
and film, containing different methods and elements from pop
art, feminism, surrealism, native art, abstract expressionism, and
happenings. She heals herself through art and demonstrates her
rich artistic life with a significant and continuous daily practice
that soothes the spirit and extends a collaborating hand across
disciplines.
“With just one polka dot, nothing can be achieved. In the universe,
there is the sun, the moon, the earth, and hundreds of millions
of stars,” the artist has mused. “Pursuing the philosophy of the
universe through art under such circumstances has led me to what I
call stereotypical repetition.”- Yayoi Kusama
She hoped that people of different backgrounds would begin
attempting to explore the realm of all that is possible and prioritise
creative thought in the plastic arts to make room for new creative
and playful potential in arts and cultural spaces. Her work became
a sensation as it bounced between art and design and took form as
the most alluring of contemporary plastic arts: a multitude of dots
that cover the surfaces of all kinds of things, from walls and floors,
to canvases, objects, and bodies, even the artist herself. Repeated
lines of dots extend into infinity, creating confusion about what a
space actually is, and leading the viewer to unconsciously fall into
a dizzied state, unsure of how to distinguish the reality from the
illusion. This work, “Love-Forever”, contains Yayoi Kusama’s classic
imagery and dots. A densely coloured, monochromatic polka dot
pattern fills the work and is repeated to the point of producing a
certain dizzy, hypnotic feeling. Its vivid colour goes beyond our
visual experience and seems to spread through the cosmos. As her
hallucinations are combined with real experiences, environments,
and material things, her ego enters an infinite plane, forming a
world that floats totally on its own. It is a perfect presentation of
what makes the work of Yayoi Kusama truly original, and the everproliferating,
deforming dots can be thanked for having spurred a
breakthrough in the plastic arts and making this work an undeniable
‘Yayoi Kusama’.