{"id":2452463,"date":"2019-12-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=318025"},"modified":"2019-12-20T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T20:00:00","slug":"yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Yayoi Kusama\u2019s Infinity Mirror Room draws crowds opening night at Aspen Art Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.3413978494624\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-318025-371\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Kusama-atd-122119-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Kusama-atd-122119-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Lea Tucker looks through one of the holes in the side of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room exhibit in the Aspen Art Museum on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The holes allow natural light into the small space, which provides the light that reflects throughout the piece. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.97391304347826\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12.660869565217\">\n<p><strong>Lea Tucker looks through one of the holes in the side of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room exhibit in the Aspen Art Museum on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The holes allow natural light into the small space, which provides the light that reflects throughout the piece. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Kusama-atd-122119-1-1024x682.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Kusama-atd-122119-1-1024x682.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Kusama-atd-122119-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Lea Tucker looks through one of the holes in the side of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room exhibit in the Aspen Art Museum on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The holes allow natural light into the small space, which provides the light that reflects throughout the piece. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A festive crowd of tourists and locals \u2014 from curious casual observers to art-world insiders \u2014 filled the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday night as it opened the <a id=\"N0x2c22990N0x2c5f5e0:N0x2c22990N0x2e13d70\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/weekly\/yayoi-kusama-is-opening-an-infinity-mirror-room-in-aspen-heres-what-to-expect\/\">much-hyped Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room<\/a> installation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cKusama\u2019s Infinity Mirror Rooms bring them out for sure,\u201d Aspen Art Museum senior curator Max Weintraub said, greeting and listening to visitors\u2019 reactions after their time inside the immersive installation. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to have a large turnout this evening, and we\u2019re expecting it to be a steady crowd the next couple months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As visitors arrived on the ground floor, they were met by museum guides who signed them up for their 90-second appointment in the room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">From there, visitors took in the rest of the shows in the museum \u2014 it\u2019s hosting concurrent shows by recent <a id=\"N0x2c22990N0x2c5f640:N0x2c22990N0x2e13fb0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/turner-prize-finalist-oscar-murillo-on-new-paintings-aspen-shot-video-and-aspen-art-museum-solo-exhibition\/\">Turner Prize winner Oscar Murillo<\/a>, <a id=\"N0x2c22990N0x2c5f6a0:N0x2c22990N0x2e14040\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/go-ahead-touch-the-art-at-abraham-cruzvillegass-aspen-art-museum-show\/\">Abraham Cruzvillegas and Seth Price<\/a> \u2014 or spent their wait-time at a party on the rooftop, where the museum hosted live music, a buffet, beer-and-wine bar along with Kusama dot-themed children\u2019s art-making activities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Locals like Brett Howley , who arrived shortly after the opening began at 5:30 p.m., waited for about an hour. An Aspen Institute staffer, she had followed the Kusama phenomenon on Instagram and had tried to see one of the artist\u2019s blockbuster exhibitions at the Hirschorn Museum in Washington D.C. but could never get in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen I tried to go in D.C. the lines were always super-long, so I never got to go,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it\u2019s nice to have one in our backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspenite Sandy Johnson, likewise, tried to get in to see the Kusama at The Broad in Los Angeles, but couldn\u2019t brave the five-hour wait time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a great community event,\u201d Johnson said of Aspen\u2019s Kusama moment. \u201cI think she is amazing. She\u2019s been doing so many creative things for so long. It\u2019s great to have her here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Johnson and her husband, Peter, said the 90-second limit inside the room was more than enough time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was a matter of claustrophobia at first, like \u2018Oh my god!\u2019\u201d Peter Johnson said. \u201cBut then the light started coming through and we said, \u2018Oh, I see how this works.\u2019 It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The couple planned to come back with friends visiting for the holidays, and with their 8-year-old grandson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Locals Bryan Daugherty and Heather Becker were among the first to go inside, arriving shortly before the 5:30 p.m. opening and waiting just 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe will be back again,\u201d Becker said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen artists and gallerists came to celebrate Kusama as well, from the Baldwin Gallery\u2019s Richard Edwards to 212 Gallery\u2019s Kate Redwing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d said Redwing, who had previously traveled to see five Kusama installations elsewhere, from Art Basel Miami Beach to the Art Gallery of Ontario. \u201cThis one is outstanding. \u2026 The Aspen Art Museum has put us on the map in the art world and this especially is groundbreaking to have this here for our winter season. It\u2019s a great contribution to town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Also among the Kusama crowd was Chris Bendon, the former city of Aspen development director who shepherded the downtown museum through its contentious land-use approval and public hearings years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was cool,\u201d Bendon said after stepping out of the mirror room. \u201cAnd it\u2019s cool to have art that\u2019s accessible that you can come and experience here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kusama has been making her Infinity Mirror Rooms since 1963, but they\u2019ve become a worldwide phenomenon in recent years as the Instagram-friendly installations have made the 90-year-old art world legend a hero of the social media generation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Titled \u201cWhere the Lights in My Heart Go,\u201d the room installed in the Aspen museum\u2019s second-floor corridor is a box measuring just under 10 feet high and wide. Its gleaming stainless steel exterior and mirrored interior walls are punctured with small circular holes that let in light to create Kusama\u2019s signature immersive optical experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When the door closes behind the viewer, they find themselves in a sort of celestial floating space. Small holes in the walls let in light from outside and reflect \u2014 yes, infinitely \u2014 across the four-mirrored walls, ceiling and floor, with the viewers also replicated throughout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The 90-second time limit inside is enough for viewers to realize they can peak out of the pinholes and see the world outside, in this cause the mountainscapes of Red Mountain and Independence Pass. It is also, of course, enough time to snap the obligatory Kusama selfie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhere the Lights in My Heart Go,\u201d made in 2016, is unique among Kusama\u2019s Infinity Mirror Rooms in that its minimalism and that its effects are created entirely by ambient light sources. Inside, there are no dangling reflective objects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For most of the Aspen Art Museum installation, natural sunlight will fuel its effects \u2014 meaning the experience will vary depending on the weather \u2014 but for the evening opening and a handful of after-dark events the museum has installed extra lighting around it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Visitors on Thursday night compared the experience to a starry night in the backcountry, a dark-sky preserve and used words like \u201cexpansive\u201d and \u201cdisorienting\u201d to describe it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think some people are really thrown by it, in a good way,\u201d Weintraub said. \u201cIt\u2019s an immersive experience and I don\u2019t think much can prepare you for it until you are in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a href=\"mailto:atravers@aspentimes.com\">atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/entertainment\/yayoi-kusamas-infinity-mirror-room-draws-crowds-opening-night-at-aspen-art-museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lea Tucker looks through one of the holes in the side of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room exhibit in the Aspen Art Museum on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The holes allow natural light into the small space, which provides the light that reflects throughout the piece. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Buy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 01:19:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}