點點點：草間彌生的圓點世界

You couldn’t get any further outside than Yayoi Kusama， who many regard as Japan’s – and possibly the world’s – greatest living artist.

Her work has influenced the avant-garde[先鋒派] for over three decades. She’s now being celebrated in major

exhibitions around the world. Ignored for most of her life， she’s finally gaining acceptance in her own home country.

Her life’s work has revolved around[以……為中心] something that might seem small and inconsequential[微不足道的]， but in Kusama’s hands， it becomes as significant as the universe itself.

Kusama: There are infinite[無數的] dots in this universe. The stars are dots， and we are all dots. You are a dot. I am a dot. There are lots of countries and they are all dots.

Kusama has spent her life with dots. From horses to humans， from clothes to clouds， from cats to concrete[混凝土]， Kusama has placed dots on everything.

Her “dottiness” began at an early age.

Kusama: When I was about seven， I was

drawing a picture of my mother， and I saw lots of dots. I was most likely hallucinating[使產生幻覺]. And I decided [to] develop注1 that into art.

From the age of 12， Kusama drew up to 300 pictures a day， many of an unconventional[非傳統的]

nature.

Kusama: There was no understanding of new art， so， instead of sending [a] message注2 to small Japan， I decided to send it to the entire world.

Rejected in Japan， Kusama went to America in 1957. In 1965， she started staging spontaneous happenings[即興表演] around New York， including Wall Street and Central Park. These happenings became part of Kusama’s “love

forever” philosophy[人生哲學]， an early protest against the Vietnam War.

She documented these events in an

experimental film called Self-obliteration[刪除]， a concept based on her famous “Dot Theory.”

Kusama: Self-obliteration. If you stick[粘]

yourself – a dot – onto all the other dots， my life will disappear into these dots， into infinity.

And now， as she approaches her eightieth year， Kusama is as prolific[多產的] as ever， with galleries around the world clamoring[大聲要求] to show her work. Being an outsider has clearly paid off.

Kusama: I don’t have any regrets. Oh， but，

before I went to America， I burned 2，000 of my own pictures behind my house. I thought， “I want to create much better art.” I regret burning these 2，000 pieces of art. They are most likely fantastic.

I wanted to make something even better.

Kusama Sensei注3， we think you did.

沒有人能像草間彌生那樣跨越國界，不少人認為她是日本——很可能也是全世界——在世的最偉大的藝術家。

她的作品足足影響了先鋒派30年，如今世界各地的大型展覽都在贊譽她的成就。大半生備受冷落的草間（如今）終于在自己的祖國獲得認同。

她一生的創作都圍繞著一個看似微乎其微、無關緊要的主題。但到了草間的手里，這個主題就變得像宇宙那樣意義非凡。

草間：宇宙中有無窮無盡的圓點。星星是圓點，我們都是圓點。你是一個點。我也是一個點。地球上有許許多多的國家，它們都是一個個圓點。

草間將一生都花在圓點（創作）上。從馬匹到人體，從衣服到云朵，從貓咪到混凝土，草間的圓點遍布世間萬物。

她的圓點生涯始于早年。

草間：當時我大約7歲，我在幫媽媽畫肖像時看見很多圓點。我那時大概是產生了幻覺。后來我決定將這（幻覺）發展為藝術。

從12歲起，草間一天能畫上300張畫，大部分都是標新立異之作。

草間：當時（日本）的人們無法理解新的藝術形式，因此，我決定向全世界傳達自己的想法，而不僅僅局限在這個小小的日本。

1957年，在日本不受歡迎的草間前往美國。1965年，她開始在紐約進行街頭即興表演，演出地點包括華爾街、中央公園等。這些表演隨后構成了草間的人生理念——“無限的愛”，它表達了早年（人們）對越戰的不滿情緒。