Yayoi Kusama's INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM - LET'S SURVIVE FOREVER has reopened

It’s been a long time coming, but this June, it’s finally back. After more than two years, Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER has reopened for visitors! Before you make your way to the AGO and book your entry, take a moment to learn more about Yayoi Kusuma, her decades-long art practice and the deeper meaning behind this infinitely intriguing work of art.

Featuring a whimsical assortment of stainless-steel orbs hanging from the ceiling and dotting the floor, LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER is a fully mirrored room that endlessly reflects the viewer’s own image. Sitting in the centre of the chamber lies a large mirrored pillar with several small portholes to transport viewers further into their own obliteration. Viewing this pillar in relation to the perimeter of the space is part of the other-worldly, infinite experience Kusama’s installations are famous for. This room is a continuation of the visual language she’s been developing since the 1960s: kaleidoscopic, mirrored environments, silver orbs and complete immersion. 

As an artist, Yayoi Kusama has had an interesting and diverse career over the past six decades. Born in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan in 1929, Kusama first studied traditional Japanese painting before relocating to New York City around the age of 30. Active at the same time as Pop art icons Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, she is considered a staple in the avant-garde art movement of 1960s New York. Developing work through new mediums like sculpture and performance art, Kusama’s fame grew as she became bolder and more political in her approach – staging large-scale anti-war happenings and building polka dot-covered phallic objects. In 1966, her first infinity room (Infinity Mirror Room: Phalli’s Field) was created.

Since then, her work with mirrors and reflection has focused primarily on the idea of self-obliteration. LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER uses the infinite reflection of the subject (the viewer) and the motif of polka dots to visually allow the self to disappear into the eternal abyss. The clever irony of this concept in our modern, social media era of selfies might be Kusama’s most important contribution yet.

Entry to LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER is first-come, first-served and must be booked on site at the AGO. Get all the details here and don’t forget to share your experience on social media with the hashtag #seeAGO.