Art Critic Finds Out What It’s Like To See Yayoi Kusama Show With Regular (Huge) Crowds – And It Worries Him

Philip Kennicott: “This exhibition highlights problems far deeper than those raised by the all-too-successful blockbuster shows of the past. This isn’t about managing success and finding the right balance between access for crowds and the integrity of the individual aesthetic experience. Rather, this is about the nature of experience itself, and whether museums want to reinforce an understanding of existence that is fractured, competitive, capitalistic and ultimately alienated from art.”

Since Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms Are So Wildly Popular, Why Not Just Make More Copies Of Them?

“Because one essential feature of the contemporary art world is artificial scarcity,” Philip Kennicott writes. “Theoretically, the Hirshhorn could line its ringed galleries with four or five versions of each room. More people could see them, and more people could experience the effect for longer periods. Except that Kusama has defined her rooms as ‘unique art works,’ and that ultimately diminishes their reach and impact.”

The Confusing Jumbled Controversy Over “Fearless Girl”

“Fearless Girl” was meant to be up for only one week, and had it remained so, it may not have given rise to so much protest and analysis about what such a sculpture means for feminism, public art, and Wall Street. Those a big topics for one sculpture to take on, but if Fearless Girl ends up staying for good, it will be because she’s raised questions about female empowerment and representation well beyond Wall Street.

Blurring Genres And Crossing Boundaries, Alone And In Collaboration

The artist Okwui Okpokwasili blurs boundaries, hates talking about genres, and collaborates both with her husband and a variety of other performers. “Nearly six feet tall, with a hypnotic voice and limbs that swallow up space, she pushes herself to the edge as a performer, playing with extremes of ecstasy, sadness or rage with almost dangerous intensity.”

Hamburg’s New Music Hall Has Featured Ultra-Relevant Music, Almost By Accident

And that’s partly because of money: “The runaway success of the Elbphilharmonie — every event this season is sold out, largely because of fascination with the architecture — gives Mr. Lieben-Seutter a rare degree of freedom. ‘The public is generally skeptical when it comes to contemporary music,’ he said. ‘But from a building like this people expect new experiences. Whenever we have played contemporary music we have had a very positive, focused public.'”