Seeing Spots?

April 2018 - Toronto ON


My current header shows the current influx of dots in Toronto in anticipation of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors exhibit.

Finally it was our day to attend. Tickets have sold out immediately and there are few to none left.

More dots in St. Patrick subway station.

And outside the AGO Art Gallery of Ontario.

The lines are organized, there are two time periods posted and you arrive fifteen minutes before your ticket time. Then eight people are escorted into a dedicated elevator to the fifth floor to start the exhibit.

The exhibition includes six Infinity Mirror Rooms: five you enter and one you peek in to. The rooms are designed by the artist to be brief immersive experiences and are in chronological order – from 1965 to the present.

Here's an example of a room from the AGO website in which we were not allowed to take photos.

The viewing platforms and areas are small. Two to three people may enter each room at a time. You may be asked by an attendant to enter with other visitors.

Each room had a lineup with a sign like this. Most rooms were three people and you were given twenty seconds, enough time to get photos but not enough to just enjoy.

Click here to watch a video.

Phalli’s Field (1965), a mirrored room whose floors were covered with hundreds of stuffed phalli that had been painted with red dots.

 

After the first room there are some exhibits to wander through.

Another line-up, another room.

Repetitive Vision

Totally dotty! As we walk down to the fourth floor to continue.

All The Eternal Love I Have For The Pumpkins

No photos allowed in this room and an attendant enters the room with the two of you.

No photos but I found this online. Source
I asked why we couldn't take photos and was told "because the pumpkins are delicate"....

Some of her art.

The Obliteration Room. It started out painted entirely in white and visitors are given dots to stick anywhere they want. By the time the exhibit wraps up in Toronto, the room is supposed to be transformed into a colour explosion.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

On the lower floor of the museum there is another display that is part of the museum's general admission.

Kusama’s Narcissus Garden, a work from 1966, is a field of mirrored metal balls, the ocular effect is one of spectacular uniformity with devious intent.

First installed at the Venice Biennale, Kusama installed a sign that read “Your Narcissism for Sale,” and then sold the balls for $2 a pop.