Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms are art meant to transport the viewer. Into outer space or the solace of one’s own mind, that’s up to the individual, but one cannot stand in the middle of any of his creations and not feel themselves to be somewhere new.
Tate Modern, London’s national gallery of international art,is celebrating its twentieth anniversary and as part of this celebration, they are bringing two of Kusama’s Tokyo-based installations to London.
“Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life” (2011) is a room entirely lined with mirrored tiles, and visitors walk it in the dark, surrounded by hundreds of tiny round LEDs. The lights flash on and off in a choreography of color, and the tiles turn them into an endless gallery, repeated into infinity above and below and in all directions around the viewer. There’s just enough light cast by the LEDs for visitors to see the corners and angles of the room, which also repeat ad infinitum, adding a maze-like complexity to the space around them.
The other piece the Tate has brought is “Chandelier of Grief” (2016). Like “Brilliance,” it puts the visitor in a darkened, mirrored room. This one is more ordered, being a perfect hexagon nearly twelve feet tall. Once the sliding door has closed out the light, the only illumination comes from an intricate baroque chandelier suspended just above eye level. It rotates gently, and its lights flicker and pulse, repeated over and over again in the mirrors all around. Many viewers say that it feels like falling, head-down, into the lights of a night-time city.
The two installations will be opening on May 11, 2020, and closing in one year, on May 9th, 2021. While Tate Modern has free admission year round, these are a special exhibition and will have a small ticket fee. For Tate Members and donors, there is an exclusive preview weekend May 8-10.
Source: The Points Guy