Kusama of art, Kusama of the world

—— Book review of "Inifinity Net"

（https://read.douban.com/ebook/170402117/?dcs=topic-3617）
“While I was crawling along the thread of art, I was groping for my own way to
survive, without which I would have committed suicide a long time ago because I
could not bear it.”This phrase is mentioned by the avantgarde Japanese artist Yayoi
Kusama in her autobiography “Inifinity Net”.This book frankly recounts her growing
experience, artistic ideas, romance, and history of mental illness, and unabasmuch
reveals her love and hate, prejudice, obsession, and selfish desires, showing her
legendary, strong and vivid life.

The first time I knew Yayoi Kusama was because of her "Pumpkin" which is full of
polka dots. I felt very magical,in fact, I have trypophobia, but after seeing her
"Pumpkin", I did not feel fear, but there was a kind of power. After that, I read a lot of
books about her, hoping to know more about her and get closer to her. What
impressed me most was this autobiography.

( Pumpkin,Yayoi Kusama ,acrylic on canvas,72.5 by 60.5 cm

https://www.sothebys.com )

Yayoi Kusama's autobiography is so different from any artist's autobiography I've

ever read, and even more so from a Japanese autobiography, because she is not like
other artists who are self-deprecate, she always said 'I am the most avant-garde, my
art is the most avant-garde'.

What impressed me most was the "Creative Act Based on nudity" in chapter 3.In
1968, the anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States intensified. As an anti-
orthodox painter, Kusama's philosophy resonated with the anti-government and anti-
war radicals, and she was involved in the anti-establishment movement, which issued
a voice against the establishment and mainstream culture. She began performing in
public, in the form of performance art. Yayoi Kusama led a group of students in an
anti-war performance art called "Human Body Explosion." Yayoi Kusama took her
students naked through the streets of New York, and painted them all with her
signature polka dots.

（ https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/48796683?utm_id=0. ）

This performance art caused a sensation at the time and brought Yayoi Kusama great
attention. Of course, this also includes far away in Japan, Kusama's mother and family
simply cannot accept Kusama's "disgraceful" art, thinking that it was immoral
behavior, so they broke off relations with her. In that era full of feudal atmosphere,
whether in Japan, or some other developed countries,it was generally believed that the
so-called art is not serious. Yayoi Kusama's opposition to the war not only did not get
the understanding of Japanese compatriots, but even a large number of people wanted
her to die, and Kusama was even once filled with the name of "Nagano shame" and
"Matsumoto Shame." Even so, she didn't want to stop creating. " When I came back,
Japan was still a feudal country, and I was strongly lambasted and even called the
Queen of nude behavior. I can accept it, I just need to go on living." She mentioned in
this autobiography.After that, no gallery was willing to show her work. But Kusama
had no intention of giving up and was still holding on.Kusama's insistence on creating
art in spite of criticism stems from her lifelong commitment to her artistic vision,
always working on her own artistic vision, desiring to explore the infinite and the
unknown, and expressing her innermost thoughts and emotions through her work.
More importantly,Kusama's persistence in creating art reflects her belief in the
transformative power of art.

（ Yayoi Kusama as a young Japanese artist

https://www.admagazine.com/cultura/kusama-infinity-un-documental-que-explora-el-mundo-creativo-de-yayoi-

kusama-20191029-6089-articulos. ）

Besides,Yayoi Kusama's art was at odds with the conservative Japan of the time.
Yayoi Kusama attempted to express her own alternative thinking by creating a new
artistic practice, such as the "soft sculptures in the shape of a phallus" mentioned
in the first chapter, which she hated to talk about and touch sex, because of her
father's womanizing and the sex education of the time. Kusama was a person who
hated talking about and touching sex,but the soft sculpture is a way for Kusama to
make a statement through her work, and to wake up. Perhaps, only such works can
release some of the tragic and painful things that Yayoi Kusama encountered during
her childhood. It is only through this kind of work that she can release the misery and
persecution she suffered during her childhood, as well as the grief and indignation that
she had no place to vent, and then all of them are clamored out in a moment.

（ Heaven and Earth 1991, Yayoi Kusama

https://delphicmedia.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/yayoi-kusama-deconstruction-and-discontent/. ）

Regardless, Yayoi Kusama is a well-known figure in today's art world, through this
book, Inifinity Net, providing me with a glimpse into the vibrant life behind this
artist's work. In this book, I read about how Yayoi Kusama thinks about her creative
philosophy,what's more,how she has made an impact on Japan as a cultural identity
in Japanese art culture and in Asian art in general.

Bibliography

DouBan. “The Infinity Web: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama.”

Accessed October 29, 2023.
https://read.douban.com/ebook/170402117/?dcs=topic-3617.

Sothebys.com. “Sotheby’s | Home,” 2017. https://www.sothebys.com.

Zhi Hu Column. “Yayoi Kusama|Artists Redeemed by Art,” March 25, 2020.

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/116713980?utm_id=0.

AD Magazine México y Latinoamérica. “Architectural Digest México Y

Latinoamérica,” n.d. https://www.admagazine.com.

deborahj. “Yayoi Kusama: Deconstruction and Discontent.” DelphicMedia,

October 8, 2012. https://delphicmedia.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/yayoi-
kusama-deconstruction-and-discontent.