Infinite Kusama at the AGO

"Narcissus Garden" (1966)

A couple weeks ago I joined fellow jewellery designer Lisa Ridout for a quick afternoon work break at the gallery. We checked out the Riopelle/Mitchell show, which we both really enjoyed, but on this visit I was happy to get to view "Narcissus Garden" by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.  Earlier in the Winter I had waited and waited... and waited online (along with evidently thousands of others) to get tickets to see her mirror exhibit, Infinite Kusama. The day was still a week and a half away, so seeing this installation of many spheres only had the anticipation building even higher.

This installation was initially exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1966. The artist had intended for each ball to be for sale so one could purchase their own narcissism.

About a week later, my good friend KK and I got to experience Kusama's 6 mirrored rooms as well as many other pieces on exhibit. We were soooo excited! 

"Infinity Mirrored Room -- Phalli's Field" (1965/2016)

"Phalli's Field" is made of many many sewn, spotted and stuffed textile forms. Kusama apparently had a fear of sex and her study of these phallic forms over many years was a way for her to address her anxiety.

We geeked out and decided to dress for the occasion. I selected a mirrored skirt my neighbour recently gave me and I had not had the chance to wear. It seemed like the perfect thing for this! I paired it with the Medallion Necklace which combines the polka dot theme with the shimmering effect of the mirrors. I was happy to observe that we were not alone in dressing for the exhibit! There were plenty of people in dots and other themed outfits. I know, you must think that I'm about one step away from wearing all Christmas themed things for all of December. Don't worry, I was laughing at myself here too. Haha!

"Ennui" (1976)

"Infinity Mirrored Room -- The Souls of a Million Light Years Away" (2013)

This room was one of my favourites. I had been trying to avoid seeing images of this show in the months leading up to our visit. I had been told by Lisa that one room was like Swarovski Crystals on drugs and am going to guess she meant this one. This photo doesn't do it justice. You are allowed 20 seconds in each room. It's such a short amount of time, yet for fleeting moments, you will instantly get lost in another world as soon as the door is closed. I found I wanted to experience the rooms with my eyes, yet I still wanted to record it by snapping a photo or two in the 20 seconds. So I did both, and sometimes took photos without looking at what I was photographing, so some of these are not my best effort! Check out my Instagram feed @moonrox_ca to see a video of this room.

"Life" (1998)

 "Dots Obsession -- Love Transformed into Dots" (2007, installed 2018)

This huge room was filled with a warm pink glow emanating from these giant polka dotted hollow forms. Amongst all of these spheres was one speckled orb with a hole that was only about 3 inches in diameter that you could peep into.

This was the mirrored spectacle inside.

In one particularly large spotted ball was one of the rooms that we could enter. This one felt a little like I had entered someone's closet. I'm not sure why.

"Infinity Mirrored Room -- Love Forever" (1966/1994)

It's amazing that Kusama first created this over 50 years ago. It's a many sided piece with two small windows so you would see yourself and potentially the face of your love reflected endlessly. The colours changed by the moment and it was mesmerizing. We lined up twice for this one and one other. If we were not super hungry, we won't have stayed longer and gotten in line a few more times. 

 "Obliteration Room" 

This room starts out entirely blank white -- completely devoid of colour. Each visitor is given a sheet of stickers that you can then place anywhere you like! The white will gradually become obliterated. We visited in the first week of the show, so I'm interested to see how it will look like in even a month's time. Here is a video of the "Obliteration Room" at the Tate in 2012.

"Infinity Mirrored Room -- Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity" (2009)

This was also one of my favourites. I think I am unable to decide which was my favourite. Can I have a top 3? This room was so breathtaking and tranquil as you become encompassed in the warm glow of so many little lanterns in this ethereal space.

The whole show was beautiful and unlike anything I had ever experienced before. You are truly immersed in the art, in fact, becoming part of it. You become one with the piece as your own familiar image is reflected back to you a multitude of times along with your manufactured surrounding. In some of the spaces, you become so lost in the infinity before you that you almost feel as if you are no longer standing on the ground.

So after 13 plus hours waiting for the tickets and a couple months awaiting the arrival of this day, it was worth it. What's any of those amounts of time in comparison to infinity!?

Desert Day 3

K and I were 7th seed when we played on the tennis team back when we were in high school. We reminisced about donning our tennis whites and marching to the public park near our school for practices at dawn. So with access to tennis courts (in three types of surfaces) we had to relive the old days and give it a go. Super fun that we got to get a few hours of play in on this desert trip! Nevermind that we are passable at best, and no one knows that 7th seed was last seed at our tiny school!

Post tennis mornings were spent poolside at the adults only spa pool that was so nice a calm. Coachella was taking place at the same time that we were in Palm Springs, so it was ideal that there was a place you could find a quiet spot that was sure to be free of party mode. Also, it's such a treat to have a hot tub and steam room steps away. Seriously... this trip was the best.

In the late afternoon we decided to drive around to more of the installations up for DesertX. First up was Phillip K. Smith's "Circle of Land and Sky."

Living in Toronto, we do have some events featuring some large installations. I was thinking of things I have seen at the Winterstations or Nuit Blanche events of years past. I wasn't quite expecting the massive scale and quality execution of many of these installations. Perhaps this is due to availability of large desert spaces or maybe they just have a big budget. After seeing the "I am" installation the night before, my expectations were elevated.

Here is the description of Smith's piece from the DesertX site:

The Circle of Land and Sky defines a reflective space within the desert, composed entirely of the environment’s two most prominent physical characteristics -- land and sky. Formed by 300 geometric reflectors angled at 10 degrees, the artwork directly engages with the Sonoran surrounding and the endless heavens.  As the light shifts and the viewer moves through the installation, land and sky are separated, merged, and displaced, subverting one’s assumed relationship with the desert horizon. At times, the sky is pulled down to the land or the land lifted up to the sky, while the colors of the west may merge with the colors of the east. It is a constantly changing installation that can never be seen the same way twice.

The next one was hard to find. We were looking for Will Boone's "Monument." After a few U-turns, we spotted this black shape not far from the side of the road. It was the entrance to a bunker complete with disclaimer. You might die! Enter at your own risk.

Hmm, what could be down there?

After you climb down the narrow space, you feel the air is instantly cooler and it's such a contrast to the glaring heat above ground amidst the desert sand. As you find your bearings, you encounter a space with a heavy vault door. At the end of the tunnel shaped bunker is a seated figure of JFK.

Here is artist Will Boone's statement:

As a Texan I feel connected to the death of John F Kennedy. I’m not sure if I come from the place where he died or the place that killed him. Like the myths surrounding Elvis, Jesus or UFO’s, Boone sees the figure of JFK as lightening in the ground, bunkered in the very same Atlas Survival Shelter that the then president had in case of nuclear attack. Inside Monument the painted bronze figure is based on that of a hobby-kit, scaled up to heroically Hellenistic proportions. It might be equal part Catholic reliquary or one of the secretive roadside shrines found in the nearby deserts of Mexico, dedicated to the narco-saint Jesus Malverde. Either way it speaks not just to all those things that have been driven underground since the extinguished optimism of the sixties but to those same fears - nuclear attack and the invasion of the other – that have been so vividly resurrected in recent times.

Next up was Doug Aitken's "Mirage," a stunning ranch-style house made entirely of mirrors set in the hills where San Jacinto valley range meets Coachella valley, perched above the city of Palm Springs. For more details and beautiful images, visit the artist's website for this piece.

Here is the blurb on this installation from the DesertX site:

In the tradition of land-art as a reflection of the dreams and aspirations projected onto the America West, Mirage presents a continually changing encounter in which subject and object, inside and outside are in constant flux. The ranch-style structure suggests a latter-day architectural version of manifest destiny, a primary structure rendered by the artist without function service or texture. With every available surface clad in mirror it both absorbs and reflects the landscape around in such ways that the exterior will seemingly disappear just as the interior draws the viewer into a never-ending kaleidoscope of light and reflection. As Mirage pulls the landscape in and reflects it back out, this classic one-story suburban house becomes a framing device, a perceptual echo-chamber endlessly bouncing between the dream of nature as pure uninhabited state and the pursuit of its conquest. For more information please visit: dougaitkenmirage.com

Took so many photos! It was hard to resist this photogenic gem.

Next we drove off to the Ace Hotel and Swim Club passing this eye-catching Chase building on our way.

In the early evening, we huddled in a booth at the King's Highway Diner at the Ace Hotel for our B-I-N-G-O session. When's the last time you played Bingo? We were disappointed there were no dabbers but this was quickly forgotten once the dynamic hostess with the mostest, Miss Shirley Claire introduced herself! She is in her late 80's and looked like a million bucks and was vibrant as hell! K and I totally want to be her when we grow up.

We left here for a very forgettable meal at a place that made us change tables three times, then served what we deemed "scoop scoop" food. You know when the meal shows up 2 minutes after ordering it as it was scoop scooped out of a big trough with little care. I can't even remember the name, but I guess that doesn't matter! Should have stayed at our spot at the Ace Hotel. Regrets!

They did have a cool bar top at the resto... too bad about the food. 

All in all, Day 3 was another fabulous day that I really loved.

Desert Day 2 Cont'd - "I am" at DesertX

Following a long afternoon nap after our hike and boozy brunch, we raced out at sundown to view one the the contemporary art installations on exhibition for the art event DesertX.  'I am' by Tavares Strachan was vast and impressive. A multitude of cavities in the desert sand were lit by a neon glow. Each cavity was big enough to trip over and some large enough to fall into. It was an incredible sight. Each shape seemed like an abstract form from our vantage point on the ground. From a bird's eye view, it read "I am." 

Here is the artist's statement from the DesertX website:

“I am” is a work that explores the relationship between human beings and their environment. Borrowing from Vedic Philosophy, the phrase “I am” is to identify oneself with the universe and /or ultimate reality. There is a rich history of human beings exploring the desert as place to disconnect and reconnect with questions about who they might be.  As someone born on an island, surrounded by what may be considered beautiful but potentially Hostile Ocean, I personally have understood these vast landscapes as opportunities to re-center and dislocate one’s imagination all at the same time. With the help of a skilled team, I plan to dig 290 craters over 100,000 square feet or the size of two America football fields. Once the holes are mapped and dug into the desert floor, brightly lit neon tubes will align the perimeter of each crater. The viewer will interact with what seems like an abstracted glowing crevasse of light, but if viewed from the sky one will read the exploded phrase “I am.” 

Now if only we had a drone to see the piece from above. Luckily we found some images on social media and online. Check some out here.

That was our fantastic second day in the desert!

Winterstations 2017

Took a rainy afternoon to visit this year's Winter Stations installations with Ashley, owner of one of the shops that carry MoonRox. Ash has sold my work at TWBCo for at least a decade and has become a friend. You might recognize her from when she helps out at the One of a Kind Show. The weather wasn't ideal, but we enjoyed the competition entries and tried to ignore the damp cold chill!

'Flotsam and Jetsam' 

'Buoy Buoy Buoy'

Lovely pastel view from atop the lifeguard chair.

'The Beacon'

'Midwinter Fire'

(Heard a few days later that this installation was destroyed by vandals, plant thieves and actually set on fire. What is wrong with people!?)

'Collective Memory' 

An interactive display made of bottles ready to be filled with messages.

'North'

Some green on green on green!

'The Illusory'

Love a good field trip! 

Check out the Winter Stations at Kew Beach on until March 27.

Thanks to Ashley for the company and for half of these photos!