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How Did The Evolution of The Installation of Yayoi Kusama Proceed?
How Did The Evolution of The Installation of Yayoi Kusama Proceed?
Yuwei Gong
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design
Karlsruhe, Germany
Abstract—The text deals about the development of Yayoi Revolution, after the 2nd World War, the old rules of the
Kusama's installation. Why Yayoi Kusama was selected? The society changed to new. Likewise the art changed. The
reason you can simply describe, but actually it's complicate. The traditional art form was destroyed. The evolution took place in
simple reason is she has a strong artistic style. One can quickly all areas of art and expanded the boundaries of art.
notice of the nature of her work and recognize. It is exclusively
Painting, Sculpture, Installation and Happing and so on. This is In 1973, she returned from America to Japan. She
really useful to analyze. The other reason is the time Yaomi continued to make Paintings, Sculptures and Fabric Happening.
Kusama was working in. The artist was strongly influenced in the 1990, however, she began with Fixed Structure. With the
time of puberty by the system of arts. From the study can be read progress of electronic options also her art to Video Installation
not only the development of art history, but can also see how her developed.
art has changed over time with the development of society,
politics and economy. Under this aspect, the value of the study is II. THE MAIN STAGES OF YAYOI KUSAMA`S
rightly given. INSTALLATION
Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano
Keywords—Yayoi Kusama; installation; Video Installation
Prefecture in Japan. With 10 years she started painting and
I. INTRODUCTION painted until she moved to the US. This means that she was
exclusively devoted to the art of painting until the age of 28
Yayoi Kusama, born in 1929 in Japan, is now regarded as years.
the most popular, most versatile and most successful
international artist in Japan. Mid-sixties was her work in the 1929, i.e. 11 years after the second industrial revolution and
same breath with the minimal art, monochrome painting; the the First World War Japan was still a colony of America. With
new trends in Europe and as a precursor to the Pop Art. (1) the Meiji Restoration, Japan had made independently. Japan
thus, had made as the first Asian country independently and
Throughout the text, I arranged chronologically as Yayoi began his industrial rise.
Kusama's work in turn arose. After moving to the US her
artistic movements have changed. In the text, I tried to explain 1912 Japan was strengthened and the First World War
why Kusama changed and how these changes came under the began. Japan wanted to expand into Asia. 1918 the First World
historic, political, economic and social various aspects. War was ended. In Japan society had splintered into many
parties, among themselves battling for power in Japan. 1929
The first section is about the time of Kusamas youth before was the economy, so the economic situation at the end of the
1957. She was born after the first war in Japan and moved in world. Japan was at the beginning of the Showa Period. That
1957 to the USA. When she was ten years old, she began was exactly the time of Kusama’s birth.
painting. Because of her hallucinations she painted mostly her
points and plants. At 19 she went to the Kyoto School of Art She was the daughter of a very rich Japanese family which
and Crafts and learned Japanese painting. In 1955, she had seen seed both bred and sold. When she was 10 years old, she got
the work of the American painter Georgia O’Keeffe at a thrift her first to hallucinations.
shop. Then she got in touch with the artist and was preparing to
When she brought her hallucinations on paper, her mother
move to the US.
tore these drawings and sent her to the punishment of the
After she moved to New York in 1957, her art direction of procedures work in the fields, because she did not want that her
Painting changed to Fabric Sculptures, Installations, daughter dealt with art. But a doctor noted the psychological
Happenings and Video Installations. However, the contents problems of Kusama. As Japanese society was at odds inside
were still their points. Learning about Surrealism and Abstract and Japan became embroiled in the Second World War,
Expressionism were the source of her development and Kusama had a gloomy childhood. A river and the flowers that
inspiration to her fabric sculptures. After Fluxus in America proliferated there were a popular destination of her and inspired
had come, she also took the Happening into her form of art. In her decisively in her art. Kusama was due to her mental illness
1964 Nam June Paik brought the video installation to New very suicidal and her mother's reprisals against her art
York. She also dabbled with video installation. This was an reinforced her inner suffering. However, the painting appeared
important time in Modern Art. After the 2nd Industrial mentally brightening and had an outlet for her inner conflicts,
In Dadaism it handing the French artist Marcel Duchamp, In 1965 she created the "Infinity Mirror Room". The walls
who influenced this form of art very much. It was he who of the room were lined with mirrors so with that it reflected the
brought the Dadaism from Paris to New York. In 1917 he got a objects of space to infinity. The floor of the room was
finished basic commodity, a so called Readymade Object, in completely covered with many of her Fabric Sculptures. When
this case, a urinal, a work of art and gave it the name the observers went into this room, he got a special effect of
"Fountain." He was the first who broke the barriers of infinity to feel. This work had a great importance as it opened
traditional art. The Readymade Objects were the basis of the many more possibilities to the traditional art. She has always
developing Installation. tried and applied something new in her artistic development.
The infinity mirror space she changed 2 times over time and
In 1957 Kusama came from her in Japan isolated world to experimented with her works of art to create something new.
the cosmopolitan New York and met Dada, Surrealism and
Abstract Expressionism which was the idea of Advangarde in The rise of Fluxus was held in Germany. Dada existed only
New York. She did not close the new impressions, but took a relatively short time, because it was too far ahead of his time,
them in and processed them into themselves and in her further it was to advangarde. DADA lacked the ability to mature.
artistic development, which led to her Installation. However, after four decades, it was possible that the idea of
DADA was realized by Fluxus. Different types of artists joined
When she was in New York, she has participated in many forces to overturn the traditional art of each category, and
group exhibitions in her local start time. At all exhibitions her creative combined, a new artistic significance found.
works were exhibited as a traditional painter with other
Japanese artists together. In 1962 she made her first Sculpture, 1966 Kusama made many series of happenings. She took
which is “No.1 Accumulation”. With this sculpture she tried to on 14th Street happening in part; she brought her fabric
change to Readymade Object. She sewed the pattern with soft sculptures on the street and lay down on it "Fig. 2".
fabrics with which she covered an armchair. In this way she
had liberated the traditional arts and has sustained the art more
opportunities and freedoms. After she had created with the
chair her first work of this new type, other works, such as a
sofa, a table, a chair and a ladder were following “Fig. 1”. Thus
her form of art changed and thus she got the chance to exhibit
with American artists together. In 1962, when she was allowed
to exhibit her first new works along with works by Andy
Warhol in the Green Gallery, this was the birth of Pop Art.
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colored people and homosexuals. The literature reports always
what happened in the corresponding periods. In retrospect it
can be seen that in the former time in art, literature and art
great changes took place. It was a real revolution in all fields. It
seems as if someone specifically destroyed the old structures
and roots of previous generations, and wanted to install a new
belief, so to steer thus uprooted masses better. It can be
assumed that the ultra rich society with Rothshild on top which
governs the US, this plan of Rothshild Tavistock Institute
(Thinktak) was thought ahead and then implemented and
brought into action.
The philosophy of the hippies owes the beats very much,
which formed for them some kind of parents´generation, both
intellectually as well as at the level of life styles. (5) The
Hippies often gathered in large groups and made many events
Fig. 2. Endless Love Show, 1996. against the war. The flower-power was their "weapon".
Kusama always referred to the love and freedom thoughts of
That same year she also made the work "Narcissus Garden" the hippy movement. 1967, she started to make her happenings
"Fig. 3". She had not been officially invited by the Venice with the hippies together. She used the bare skin of the hippies
Biennale, but in one night she let put 1500 pieces of iron balls and the animals as canvas and painted them with her points.
on the place of Italian Pavilion. On second day she put on a The colors of her points in red, yellow and green meant the sun,
kimono, stood on the square, selling iron balls for $ 2 a piece. the moon and the earth. She often made happenings with the
She criticized the commercialization of art and said that art hippies on the street, which was very much a sensation, so that
should be bought like the vegetables in the supermarket by the she often appeared in the newspapers, it was a lot discussed
people. When the committee came and said that she was about her, and thus she became more and more well known.
destroying the order and should clear the square, she spread her This she made a long time, until 1970. About this time there
arms over the many iron balls. Thus she surpassed all the other are a lot of pictures on which she is seen with long lines of
artists who had been officially invited to the Venice Biennale. hippies, waiting her to be painted with a brush, with their
points.
After her lover had died in 1973, she returned to Japan. In
these 16 years in which she had not been in Japan, many
changes had happened there, so that she had difficulties to
reintegrate on the beginning. After World War II, Japan
recovered, the economy grew and with these great changes also
changed the art. The Japanese artists were also influenced by
the Modern Art.
In the 70s and 80s, she experimented with her happenings
by exchanging her dots by new components, such as straight
lines. She used these straight lines to connect the people with
the architecture, art, such as cars and nature. During this time
she also continued Fabric Sculptures with straight lines and not
with her previously used points.
In 1991 the USSR collapsed and America was the most
Fig. 3. Narcissus Garden, 1966 powerful country of the world. Since the end of the 2nd World
War in 1945 there no big war in the world took place, so that
She also created the Happening "Walking Peace". In doing the technology, the spiritual life, the arts and culture could
so she discussed the difficulties and challenges of Asian develop very strong. People went into a new modern world,
women in the Western world, where she was dressed in a which increasingly exploits and destroys the nature until now.
kimono walking around in the city.
In the mid 80s to late 90s, she was active again in her scene
At the time, America was involved with the Soviet Union of art. In 1993, she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale.
in the Cold War. Another central theme of the Counter Culture After a long time of trial and experimentation now her art was
was the Vietnam War. He put mainly young men before mature. Thereafter, she was invited very often to the Biennales
existential problems because they were subject of conscription. of many different countries. Her public works are exhibited all
(4) Later came the movement of feminism. The women wanted over the world.
to have the same rights as men. They wanted to be on an equal
footing. In literature the term Beat Generation emerged which Yayoi Kusama made a pumpkin series in which she
pursued the freedom and peace and was against the war and the provided the meridians of the pumpkins with dots. She used
industry. Furthermore, it directed against the discrimination of large and small pumpkins, which were always exhibited in
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public spaces "Fig. 4". On the idea of her points and gourds to work and endeavors in this way to give new experiences to
paint with points she came by an experience in the early years, people.
as she stood in front of a pumpkin and she had the feeling he
was talking to her. Then she looked at the pumpkin for a month,
trying to fathom the soul of squash.
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REFERENCES
[1] Kunstverein Braunschweig (2004): Yayoi Kusama, Arbeiten aus den
Jahren 1949 bis 2003. Deutschland.
[2] Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart (1994): DADA total. Stuttgart.
[3] Lucy R. Lippard (1968): Pop Art. München/Zürich.
[4] Lutz Hieber, Stephan Moebius (Hg.) (2009): Avantgarden und Politik.
Bielefeld.
[5] Lutz Hieber, Stephan Moebius (Hg.) (2009): Avantgarden und Politik.
Bielefeld.
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