{"id":28449,"date":"2018-03-02T12:15:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T17:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=28449"},"modified":"2019-06-02T19:04:21","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T23:04:21","slug":"yayoi-kusama-brings-infinity-mirrors-to-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=28449","title":{"rendered":"Yayoi Kusama brings ‘Infinity Mirrors’ to Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been a fan of Yayoi Kusama’s work for some time and fell in love with images and videos online of her ‘Infinity Mirrors’ installations. Her iconic room ‘All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins’ was particularly interesting and when I first heard that the exhibition was coming to the Art Gallery of Ontario, the image of that room immediately popped into my head. I was lucky enough to attend a preview of the exhibition and here’s how my visit went down.<\/p>\n

When they say it’s an immersive experience, that’s the perfect description. Once you enter each room and the doors close behind you, you seem to get transferred to another visual and mental dimension. Here’s the room by room breakdown (Slight spoiler alert: if you’re attending the exhibit but being there is far better than photos<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Phalli’s Field<\/strong>
\nThis was the first room I visited at the exhibit and it was really BRIGHT!!! My mind was instantly blown (and my heart grew 3 sizes that day) – all expectations were instantly exceeded. The white cotton ‘tentacles’ with red spots duplicate and appear to go forever.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity<\/strong>
\nThis room represented death and the afterlife. When you enter the room, it’s pitch black and flickering golden lights slowly begin to illuminate. A complete empty darkness becomes twinkling beauty. Breathtaking.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Love Forever <\/strong>
\nThis is not a room, but more of peephole into a strobing, flashing other world. Lots of colours blinking and strobing like you might see in Vegas or an arcade.<\/p>\n

\"@
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All The Eternal Love I Have For Pumpkins<\/strong>
\nThis was the installation that I was most looking forward to, and ironically, I was the least impressed by this one. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty amazing, but the other rooms just edged this one out. Maybe the fact that you weren’t allowed to take any pictures in this room and one of the AGO employees had to be in the room with you, was a bit of buzzkill. That completely changed the experience for this particular room.<\/p>\n

Dots Obsession – Love Transformed Into Dots<\/strong>
\nHow can you not like enormous illuminated pink orbs with black dots? The entire room is filled with these balloons, and you can peek into one of them at ground level and see a mirrored pink infinity.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away<\/strong>
\nI thought my mind had already blown completely at this point in walking through the exhibition, but I still had some room for it to further explode. This room is a gorgeous, dimming, flashing masterpiece. It’s so colourful and you felt like you were floating in space (insert Spiritualized ear worm here) in a field of stars…I could have stood in here for hours but there was a time limit to all rooms – dammit! This, by far, was may favourite room.<\/p>\n

\"Yahoo
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Obliteration Room<\/strong>
\nI walked into the Obliteration Room, which at this point was lightly obliterated. They hand you a sheet of coloured round sticker of various sizes, and you’re asked to stick them anywhere in the room before you leave. You must to give your empty sheet to someone on the way out (maybe they wouldn’t let you leave without sticking them or they were just trying to keep people from throwing their garbage all over). I would love to have the chance to go back near the end of the exhibition to take a picture so I can pop a side by side comparison, but for now, you can see my early obliteration shots.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the rooms, the exhibit also includes smaller scale sculptures and artwork such as the yellow and black tentacles of ‘Life (Repetitive Vision)’ or her colourful recent paintings and sculptures. Here’s a few of them to give you a little nibble.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi
@ Culture Addicts 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re thinking holy shit, I have to check out this exhibition, here’s what you need to know to get tickets.<\/p>\n

Where is it happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Art Gallery of Ontario<\/div>\n
317 Dundas St W,<\/div>\n
Toronto, ON<\/div>\n
M5T 1G4<\/div>\n
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How do I get tickets?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tickets are $30 for adults, $26.50 for seniors, and $21.50 for post-secondary students and youth ages 17 and under. On Wednesdays after 6 pm tickets are $15. Admission is free for AGO Members, but tickets aren’t guaranteed<\/strong>. Members must book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets to\u00a0Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors\u00a0<\/em>include access to the AGO Collection galleries.<\/div>\n
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