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Ay ay ay Yayoi! London – part 2

April 11, 2012

Here are some photos from my visit to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.

Before we started we sat at the cafeteria and had a nice and comforting cup of tomato soup and some natural juice. After the cold wind outside, it was well good. It was a dreary day out, so it was actually good that the plan was to spend part of the day in the museum.

We bought the tickets (and basically bullied into paying the extra £ for the museum’s charity on top of the ticket price – mind you, it’s not for the money, it’s just that you’re not given the choice to contribute or not), and there we went. It was packed with people and sometimes one had to wait in line for their turn to look at a certain group of paintings which is something that I hate, but I guess that’s the price to pay for going to a popular exhibition on a weekend. At least there were a few interesting looking people there!

This is what I wore on the day:
Headband – H&M
Parka – from that Outlet in Manchester
Cardigan – Zara
Top – H&M
Skirt – Oxford and Regent, via Buffalo Exchange, NY
Knee highs–  House of Holland
Shoes – Monki
Scarf – El Corte Ingles

So onwards to what is important, the ART!

I really enjoyed it, you can distinctively see all the stages her art went through, room after room. It is also very interesting as all the phases are very different but there is an underlying coherence in all of them. No matter the medium she was using, repetition to the point of obsession was always present. I might even add that it felt like a crescendo.

There was a certain penile obsession going on at this point… (I´m not joking!)

I have to say that I tend to be a little skeptical about some contemporary art and gravitate towards more traditional mediums or expressions like painting but to me, her work is an example of how some less conventional mediums like installation can be extremely powerful and meaningful. Not that it’s a novelty anymore (here’s a brief history of the medium from Wikipedia) but it seems to be overused up to the point of exhaustion, sometimes boring and completely devoid of meaning or depth, more like a gimmick used for the sake of doing something different. Novelty for the sake of novelty is never a good thing and just creates temporary fads. (This goes for a lot of other things, remember the adage Fashion is temporary, Style is forever). Well, I suppose that when there is true talent and personality involved, the medium becomes secondary, as it will shine through anyway.

At this point I was told off for taking photos. Oops! I wasn’t using a flash (I never do in Museums, god forbid) but apparently it wasn’t allowed.
I was a little naughty and took a couple more, of my favourite bits in the exhibition. This was a room, complete with all the furniture, covered in colourful dots, under black light. Not only it was a fun unusual environment to be in but it also gave us the giggles as our teeth and my pink hair apparently lit up under the light.

And then… there was the Infinity Room. Boy, was that exhilarating even. Am I weird to get this excited about an art installation?

No words nor my photos or even this video can convey what it feels like to be in that room full of changing coloured lights. That was real Beauty and the perfect ending that sent us on our way to carry on exploring the corners of London, with a sense of wonder and a smile on our faces.

The exhibition is on until the 5th of June 2012, if you find yourself in the vicinity, make sure you stop by, it’s definitely worth it.

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2 Comments

  • Reply Aminta Paiz April 11, 2012 at 16:00

    Wooow beautiful exhibition! I wish I could visit it… thanks for sharing a part of your adventure with us <3 ...muuuuuuuwa

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