“Polka dots can’t stay alone,” Yayoi Kusama famously claimed. “When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots, we become part of the unity of our environments.”
Known for her many-spotted works, polka dots occupy a particular significance for the renowned Japanese artist. From pumpkins to a giant balloon for a Macy’s Day Parade, polka dots have been a recurring presence throughout her work, particularly in her Infinity Mirror Rooms – immersive installations creating the illusion of eternity with endlessly recurring reflections of polka dots seemingly stretching out forever.
This summer, Tate Modern is offering the opportunity to participate in the creation of a Kusama artwork. Visitors will be invited to collaborate in The Obliteration Room – a blank white room waiting to be transformed with Kusama’s signature polka dots. Furnished with their own stickers, visitors to the exhibition will contribute to an evolving constellation of dots.
“With just one polka dot, nothing can be achieved,” the artist has claimed in the past. Here, she offers up a blank space in which one polka dot can be joined by another, and another, until something majestic is achieved. Reflecting Kusama’s fascination with repetition, accumulation, and obliteration, this interactive artwork develops as the frequency of polka dots grows builds, creating new configurations of colour and form.
Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room is at Tate Modern from 23 July until 29 August 2022