On the way to work the other day I came across these silver mirror balls on Godliman Street just off St Pauls Churchyard that have popped up in the last 2 weeks. I've tried to find some information on them nearby and when that proved fruitless I tried to find some info online but so far nada, they are proving to be a real little mystery.
The first thing that struck me about them was how much they reminded me of Anish Kapoor's mirror tree which was at The Royal Academy a few years back which I absolutely loved. I'd much rather have that for the Olympics than the garish red helter skelter!
And the second thing that sprung to mind was Narcissus Garden by Yaoi Kusama, it's uncanny right?!
I don't really know much about
Yayoi Kusama so I've been doing some research and I've slowly become fascinated by her. Short story is, she's a Japanese Artist who moved to America in the 1960's and was part of the Pop Art movement using polka dots and motifs in paintings, collages, installations, body painting etc. She now lives voluntarily in a mental hospital in Japan where she continues to produce work. A really interesting interview with her can be found
here and thats her below.
I think part of what is so striking about her work is the echoes that we just saw on the A/W 2011 catwalks, in particular the polka dots of Marc Jacobs and the whole shebang of Louise Gary from the face painting to the painting of the runway!
"Painting bodies with the patterns of Kusamas hallucinations obliterated their individual selves and returned them to the infinite universe. This is magic."
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