Yayoi Kusama: The Obliteration Room
Yes, running around sticking spots on everything is as fun and therapeutic as it sounds.
Overview
You step inside a room, painted white from floor to ceiling. All surfaces, fixtures, furniture and objects are white, and not just the usual things, either. The fireplace decked with stockings, the kitchen filled with utensils: they’re white too. It’s up to you and your fellow visitors to add spots of colour in sticker form.
The interactive project stems from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s childhood perception, seeing the world through a screen of tiny dots. In her work that followed, she covered everything with dots in a process she calls “obliteration”. That’s what Kusama asks everyone to do here: obliterate the installation’s pristine state. And yes, running around sticking spots on everything is as fun and therapeutic as it sounds.
Developed for the Queensland Art Gallery in 2002, The Obliteration Room has toured the world, now returning to Brisbane for the first time since 2011. It may be a feature of GOMA’s Children’s Centre; however, witnessing and participating in the transformative process is a delight for big kids as well. You’ll want to go back again and again during the five-month run, but to satisfy your urges in-between visits, there’s even an online version you can play with at home.
