One of the installations I was really keen to see was the 'we miss you magic land' installation in the children's gallery. I wanted to see it, because I am thinking of an installation for my next exhibition and Pip and Pop (artists) seem to have an aesthetic not too dissimilar to mine. It certainly was the lolly-coloured fairy land I had envisaged, but overall I was quite disappointed. Perhaps that is because it was aimed at children, but there lives a child in all of us, and this exhibition failed to interest mine all that much. Perhaps again it was that the space was filled with children that stopped me from feeling immersed, but I somehow doubt that. I know this is terribly picky, but the exhibition included numerous little plastic animals, but they were all included as they were - straight out of the packet, which at times made them seem very out of place and incongruous. Given the effort it would have taken to do the sugar part of the exhibit, I would have thought a quick coat of metallic pink paint or something on the animals would have been worth it. Again, we (I) need to bear in mind that the exhibit was meant for children, but given the title, I would have liked it to say something...I don't know what, but it just seemed...well...decorative, pretty, an amazing attention to detail, but a wee bit pointless.
By contrast, I loved the installations by (clearly slightly bonkers - and I mean that in the nicest possible way) Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama in the exhibition: Look Now, See Forever. Her installations were completely immersive, possibly by virtue of her brilliant use of mirrors, saturated colour and dynamic forms, but I could feel the buzz in my head that happens when you know you are witnessing something important, even if it is just challenging your concept of reality. My favourites were Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin and Dots Obsession, both pictured below.
The artist freely admits her obsession with dots, a problem that has plagued her inner life since childhood. You get to join the obsession by participating in the interactive exhibition The Obliteration Room where you can add coloured dots to any part of what was once a white room. The room virtually hums with the vibration of colour and shape. Her video installation featuring the artist singing her own composition: Song of a Manhattan Suicide Addict is fascinating in a train-wreck kind of way and what prompted my original comment. She certainly sees life in a refreshingly 'dotty' way - should be more like her.
If you want to go to the gallery's website, I have put in a link on the side, and I will be back in a day or so to talk a bit more about the Gallery's fifth birthday exhibits.
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