Have you ever heard of mirrored rooms?
They give you such a feeling of liberty, wonder and infinity!
Time to discover some artists who made them.
Our first stop is Arken, a museum of modern art in the middle of the dunes in Ishøj (at 20 km
from Copenhagen, Denmark).
One of the art pieces exhibited when I visited it back in 2012, was a rectangular with mirrors as outside walls.
Drawing closer, it became clear that there was also a door with a sign next to it saying: "Please take off your shoes before entering."
This made me really curious, so I peeped inside and what I saw was amazing!
The whole inside was made of mirrors: walls, ceiling and floor.
And in the middle hang a swing.
When you went to sit there, you could see a real 'matrix'-like image as far as the eye could reach, because everything was repeated ad infinitum by the mirrors.
And swinging gave you a feeling of being weightless in a strange universe that spread all around you.
For years I didn't know how this piece of art was named or who made it. There was no sign of it at the time or I must have looked over it (now I always carefully take a picture of those when I visit a museum and see things that inspire me).
But while making this article I dug a little deeper and finally found out the work is called "The Phoenix is closer than it appears" and made by German artist Thilo Frank (°1978).
If you want to know more about this artist, you can visit his website.
By digging a bit further I discovered that Thilo Frank wasn't the first one to create such a mirrored room.
In fact two other artists preceded him.
One of them is the Greek-born American artist Lucas Samaras (°1936) who made several mirrored infinity rooms in the '60s.
You can admire marvellous pictures of them here.
And not only did he make mirrored rooms, but there's a mirrored walkthrough corridor as well:
Even though I never heard of him before, Lucas Samaras apparently has many creative talents: photography, painting, sculpting, ...
Small articles (like the ones here, here and here) make me curious to get to know more about him.
That's why I've added following books to my 'to be read'-list:
- Samaras: The Photographs Of Lucas Samaras by Lucas Samaras
- Lucas Samaras by Lucas Samaras
Another artist who is very famous both for her love of polka dots and for her many infinity rooms (the first ones also made in the '60s), is Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (°1929).
While visiting the
museum of modern art Louisiana in Denmark, I was so lucky to be able to
experience her "Gleaming Lights of the Souls".
If you ever go there, be sure to ask where it is! Because the entrance is just a white door in a white wall around a corner where you would never suspect a piece of art hidden from the visitors.
Inside the room the walls and ceiling are made of mirrors. On the floor there's a little layer of water (except for a small path on which visitors can stand) which also reflects the many lightbulbs which are changing colours all the time.
An impression:
The museum filmed an interesting interview with Yayoi Kusama and placed it on the Louisiana Channel and on Youtube.
If you want to get a glimpse into the soul of this world famous artist, you can watch and listen to it here:
Another interesting reportage about her difficult life and colorful art, can be seen here.
And if you want to add some books to your shelves, these are the ones that pique my interest the most:
- Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama by Yayoi Kusama and Ralph McCarthy (translator)
- Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love by Yayoi Kusama
- Kusama: The Graphic Novel by Elisa Macellari
To end this article, following movie seemed the most appropriate.
It shows you a lot of different infinity rooms Yayoi Kusama created and it totally reflects (pun intended) the fantastic feeling of wonder I sense when entering such a room. Enjoy!
It is truly beautiful as a concept, Tau, and I have much enjoyed the different rooms Kusama created, especially with the accompanying soundtrack. But it must be magical and overwhelming when you can enter such a room, physically I mean, so I wonder: does the video does justice to the actual experience? Incidentally, these scenes reminded me of the trouble cameramen must experience with shots of people in front of mirrors or when they are shooting scenes in elevators with mirrors or panels of reflective material. As a young kid, I remember well their weird effect of infintiy being in such a modern elevator with mirrors all around. The lighting in those infinity rooms must be a challenge too.
ReplyDeleteAs to Kusama herself, she strikes me as a troubled soul, what with her voluntary stay in an asylum since 1977. But she will leave her mark, that's for sure.
Maybe this concept is less 'wild art' than the previous articles in this series, as the pieces of art were exposed in museums all over the world. Nevertheless, in my eyes they were 'different' enough from usual art to put them in that category.
DeleteReally glad you liked it, Bohse 😄
As always I'll be very honest and say: "No, videos or photographs don't come near the real deal."
Actually it's the same for holidays. Before corona I traveled a lot and the preparation of a voyage always gave me a lot of satisfaction. But when it came down to it, experience a location always felt even more gratifying than reading about it or seeing pictures of the place. Being somewhere means that you can use all your senses to experience it to the fullest. It's the whole of all those experiences that form your memories.
But if you haven't the immediate opportunity to visit a place, then pictures and videos are a very good second choice. There are places I'll probably never see in my life and thus I'm grateful for the internet which provides the possibility (even though in a more restricted way) to experience it to a certain limit 😉
The mirror rooms I discussed can be closed with a door and it's intended that people leave it closed until you're out again.
Of course you always have people who don't respect that and then you'll have to retake pictures or restart filming because the intended effect is gone.
But as the entrance often isn't really visible, that's a plus because not many people will open the door either 😋
Thanks to you (who inspired me to write this article) I learned that fact too about Yayoi Kusama.
Her unconventional life makes me really curious. Which is why I added her autobiography to my own 'to read'-list 😉
Did you know that I had exactly the same thought as you?
"Despite a difficult life, she will definitely leave her mark."
And I'll bet it will be a mark in the shape of a polka dot 😋
Het lijkt me een bijna duizelingwekkende belevenis om ook echt in zo'n kamer te staan - laat staan om erin te schommelen. Om de een of andere reden moest ik bij het bekijken van met name dat filmpje denken aan de clip bij 'Running up that hill' van Kate Bush. Een soortgelijke sfeer van ontdubbeling en mysterie.
ReplyDeleteHet is inderdaad een bijzondere belevenis om zo'n kamer te kunnen betreden, Petra 😄
DeleteWat leuk dat je refereert naar een liedje waaraan dit soort beelden je doet denken!
'k Kende het liedje niet, maar ben het even gaan opzoeken en ik snap wat je bedoelt 😉