Like a television series that was on air for too long, Yayoi Kusama's highly anticipated Infinity Mirror Rooms exhibition was unnecessarily drawn out across three rooms. Her works could have easily fitted in one, as the show was of little substance.
I arrived at Tate Modern with limited knowledge of the Japanese artist. Thankfully, the first room of the exhibit held a general introduction where I learnt about her poor mental health, stemming from her childhood. As young as ten years old, Kusama experienced visions and hallucinations: this is the inspiration for her work.
Electrifying, vivid colours and endless reflections, the highlight was definitely Infinity Mirrored Room - Filled with the Brilliance of Life. Having seen the same mirror selfie dominate Instagram, it was exciting to experience the room in person. What was less than satisfactory, however, is that you only get two minutes to take it all in. Whether this is because of Covid or the exhibit's sold out status (until the end of the year), 120 seconds is nowhere near enough time to orientate yourself and analyse the work. Unfortunately, this particular installation is another casualty of galleries commoditising the art.
Other elements of the exhibition included photographs of the artist and her performance art videos. These, regrettably, were not inspiring. Nor was the Chandelier of Death which was tacky instead of tasteful. Part of the issue was that it was not attached above to the ceiling high enough for it to truly be impactful. Moreover, you could see the seams between the mirrors and the black fabric, instantly diminishing the infinite effect - I blame the Tate for this. My friend saw the Chandelier of Death on display in New York and mentioned how brilliant and efficacious it was because it was set up correctly, using higher quality materials.
Luckily, this friend is a Tate member and therefore I did not have to pay the £10 entry fee. I would have been irritated if I had spent that amount of money to see such an underwhelming exhibit, and for such a small amount of time too.
What I did appreciate, however, is the fact that anyone can enjoy her artwork; you do not need previous knowledge to be able to engage with it: it is accessible to all. I would definitely go and see Kusama's work again, but only if there were more of it and if it were set up properly.
The true highlight was the Kusama inspired menu at the Tate cafè (the matcha tea scones were to die for) and you don't even need to go through the disappointment of the exhibition to eat them!
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