This is What Happens When You Give Thousands of Stickers to Thousands of Kids

[progressoid]

This December, in a surprisingly simple yet ridiculously amazing installation for the Queensland Gallery of Modern Ar, artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a large domestic environment, painting every wall, chair, table, piano, and household decoration a brilliant white, effectively serving as a giant white canvas. Over the course of two weeks, the museum’s smallest visitors were given thousands upon thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to collaborate in the transformation of the space, turning the house into a vibrantly mottled explosion of color. How great is this? Given the opportunity my son could probably cover the entire piano alone in about fifteen minutes. The installation, entitled The Obliteration Room, is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition that runs through March 12.

http://blog.qag.qld.gov.au/before-the-first-dot-yayoi-kusama%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98the-obliteration-room%E2%80%99-2011/
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/01/yayoi-kusama-obiliteration-room/?src=footer
















More pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_addelsee/6643534481/in/photostream/
And: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_addelsee/6643532207/in/photostream/

[msanthrope]

1. Wow. Just wow. nt

[jberryhill]

2. It looks more like it was when it was different than when it was the same

[AtomicKitten]

3. The evolution is really quite wonderful.

k&r

[AllyCat]

19. It is amazing what kids will do given a few materials

They see the world in a completely wonderful way (most of the time).

[tridim]

25. IMO they should have stopped at picture 3.

But still, wow!

[jberryhill]

4. Another Shameless Exploitation Of Child Labor!

So... they get all of the kids to work for free, and clean up on royalties and museum admissions, eh?

Big Art strikes again!

[progressoid]

5. heh - clean up.

I wonder who gets the honor of cleaning up after the show ends?

[MineralMan]

6. That reminds me of the time I invited a bunch of friends

over for a party. I didn't say what the party was about. I had just acquired a used Volkswagen bus. I gathered together a lot of paint and a lot of brushes of all sizes and put it all on a table near the bus. I had food and drink available, and folks brought their own favorite euphoric herbs. When everyone went home, the bus was completely covered with artwork. It wasn't really a hippy bus, but something else altogether. I drove it for about a year, then passed it on to someone else for about what I paid for it.

When you just let people do whatever they want, things happen. Since kids are naturally stoned, wonderful things happen.

[GoCubsGo]

7. I love it!

Especially the intermediate stages, where you could see faces and swirls and question marks...

[orpupilofnature57]

8. Cooool trip ,Thanks!! Happy New Year !!

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. WOW!

thanks for posting this.

[zbdent]

10. wa happen?

I see spots ...

[TlalocW]

11. Looks better than anything Jackson Pollock did

But is it art?

TlalocW

[surrealAmerican]

12. Great piece, but ...

... I wouldn't expect the piano to still be playable. Surely the children would have encrusted the keys together with those stickers.

[Fool Count]

16. Oh, it was playable, and even reasonably well tuned to my untrained ear.

There were several different sizes of stickers and the small ones fit on one key without
linking them together.

[Scurrilous]

13. Nice.

[stevedeshazer]

14. It's amazing.

I love it.

[McCamy Taylor]

15. Since every sticker has probably been handled by a child's (unwashed) hand this is a visual

representation of the "germs" one can not see in a room inhabited by children.

[kickysnana]

17. When did they figure out they needed to get the kids off the ground to finish this project?

Since they cocoon kids from birth how did they handle the liability?

Before I scrolled down I expected the result I saw in a newspaper cartoon where the kids decorate the Christmas tree but only they can only to the bottom three feet so the top is bare.

[Louisiana1976]

18. Way cool!

[applegrove]

20. That is awesome.

[Canuckistanian]

21. Awesome!

Never underestimate what kids can do when given a chance.....

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. This is how Claude Monet got his start...

(Just my impression)

[progressoid]

24. ...

[badgerpup]

23. The third picture looks very cheerful...

...but the next two look like Happiness exploded at its own birthday party.

Just a bit..."busy", IMVHO....some of the kids had done figures (I saw a "Hello Kitty" and something fly-diving) and they're totally lost.

It's amazing how depthless the pristine white is...almost no shadows.
Did anybody besides me want to just stare at it and feel your eyes and brain relax?

[hootinholler]

26. I wonder when a kid will think to sticker themself and hide?

What beautifully camouflaged contents of those rooms. Much more effective that everything the same color.

I can see a sticker covered kid jumping out at people.

ETA: what a wonderfully fun space this is!

[Bennyboy]

27. Coolest thing ever. Love community art...

Really a good thing....