Fireflies on Water

This is something most people would deem 'a good title for a short story'. Or something out of a Japanese folk tale. It's close enough, it's the title Kusama gave to an installation she ingeniously put together a few years ago I came across because, a few years ago, that is, she exhibited in Madrid. Regretfully, I missed it, but I am absolutely awed by the pictures alone. I mean, wow. 150 lights over a shallow pool of water in a darkened room where the walls are covered in mirrors. Sounds simple, no? The brilliance of the idea actually is far from simple. It's simplicity is actually mind blowing, as the endless echo of images around the panorama gives way to a sense of absolute endlessness, as Yayoi Kusama provides a porthole into a different dimension we can only dream about-and she makes it tangible. I linked it into my art personal study, particulary within the exploration of blue in art, and focusing on the way blue represents the elements. Kusama could not have done a better job in depicting nature-air, water, life. It's blue all over, in spite of its colour. It shouts out 'I am alive, this is where I am, I am absolutely surrounded by magnificence.' I wonder what she'll come up with next...