Analysis Of Yayoi Kusama At The Phoenix Art Museum

The art piece â€Å"You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,† by Yayoi Kusama at the Phoenix Art museum, is a pitch-black room with mirrors lining the walls and black granite flooring and ceiling. Hanging from the ceiling to the floor are black cords three inches or so apart with multiple LED lights attached to each cord, which change to a new color scheme every two or so minutes and flicker on and off. When I first walked into the room the lights were all red, and by the time I exited they had shifted from red, to green and red, to blue and purple, to blue and green, to blue, and repeated again. The room is small, and is only about a 15 feet by 15 feet square space with one entrance and one exit. Although the room is†¦show more content†¦I also got the feeling that the artist created this room to let people live a fantasy and escape from the real world that was just on the other side of the mirrored walls. Now eight years later, my first reaction to the piece was completely different. I felt the room represented infinity and space. The piece is titled, â€Å"You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,† and while standing in the room I felt obliterated. I felt so insignificant standing in a room surrounded by a swarm of lights that seemed to go on for eternity, and I got the feeling that the piece represented how big the world is and how little we are in it. This was scary at first because most people are afraid of feeling insignificant and coming to terms with how small of a piece humans are in the universe was difficult, but in that moment I was forced to think about obliteration and infinity. However, the changing color scheme of the lights made me feel calm and at will my thoughts. I got the similar feeling that I did when I was 11, and I felt the piece was made for people to enjoy in that moment. I thought the artist was trying to represent that everyt hing in life is here and now, and that is what is important. As a species we always try to look beyond things and look farther into the future, but as the lights show the things in the distance are hard to see and only what is close by can truly be experienced