Big Idea: Breaking Social Norms
Major Theme: Examination of art through time and community involvement
Medium/Presentation: Furniture, circular stickers of varying sizes/colors
Visual Components: Color, Movement, Repetition, Space, Texture, Variety
Category: Pop Art
Description/Interpretation:
“The Obliteration Room” was a large installation piece that lived inside of a gallery space. This room had different pieces of furniture spread throughout it, such as couches, tables, chairs, a lamp, and a television. The furniture always remained stationary. The viewer was the one able to move about the space freely. The entire room started off in the exhibition by being painted all white. White paint covered all the furniture, the walls, ceiling, and floor. It was then open for viewers to come inside of the space and add a circular sticker of various sizes and colors to the space. The room then transformed into a kaleidoscope of color and movement as people began to stick stickers onto all parts of the space.
As I researched Yayoi Kusama, I found out a great deal of information on her childhood and the post-traumatic stress that she has because of it. I believe this is part of the reason as to why she created this piece. In an art museum, children have to often be reminded not to touch anything to avoid breaking it or ruining it in any way. This is something normal that is taught to us as children. This piece “obliterates” those rules completely. It seems as though people are encouraged to come into this space and make their mark with a colorful, circular sticker as a lot of other art is untouchable and sacred. She is breaking a social norm that we are taught as children. The furniture being painted white at the beginning of this exhibition mimics the start of many other more formal pieces in art. You start off with a blank canvas, a clean slate. This is intentionally done to indicate that the piece started off very plain and progressively moved to a colorful work of art through time and active community involvement. The room starting off as a mundane space with ordinary furniture pieces suggests that Yayoi Kusama wanted her viewers to feel safe and comfortable as these are objects that most likely everyone encounters on a daily basis, even small children. The piece has a very playful and interactive feel to it when looking at pictures of it so I can imagine that being surrounded in the environment promotes of feeling of engagement naturally. Obviously, Yayoi Kusama wanted people to interact with her piece, but it would seem that she didn’t need to ask them to engage with the piece, they just effortlessly do so due to the usage of objects of familiarity there for support. This seemed to have been successful because in the time-lapse video above, I see people comfortably sitting on the couches. Even the stickers are something that everyone has used at least once in their life. I also think that she used rather mundane white furniture at the beginning making a statement alluding to life being what you make of it. The furniture starts out plain but requires effort and energy to transform into something more exciting and full of vivacity. Not to mention, as children we are also taught to respect the furniture in our house, especially a living room set up. This would include not to draw or manipulate the furniture which is exactly what Yayoi Kusama wants with her piece.
“The Obliteration Room” was a large installation piece that lived inside of a gallery space. This room had different pieces of furniture spread throughout it, such as couches, tables, chairs, a lamp, and a television. The furniture always remained stationary. The viewer was the one able to move about the space freely. The entire room started off in the exhibition by being painted all white. White paint covered all the furniture, the walls, ceiling, and floor. It was then open for viewers to come inside of the space and add a circular sticker of various sizes and colors to the space. The room then transformed into a kaleidoscope of color and movement as people began to stick stickers onto all parts of the space.
As I researched Yayoi Kusama, I found out a great deal of information on her childhood and the post-traumatic stress that she has because of it. I believe this is part of the reason as to why she created this piece. In an art museum, children have to often be reminded not to touch anything to avoid breaking it or ruining it in any way. This is something normal that is taught to us as children. This piece “obliterates” those rules completely. It seems as though people are encouraged to come into this space and make their mark with a colorful, circular sticker as a lot of other art is untouchable and sacred. She is breaking a social norm that we are taught as children. The furniture being painted white at the beginning of this exhibition mimics the start of many other more formal pieces in art. You start off with a blank canvas, a clean slate. This is intentionally done to indicate that the piece started off very plain and progressively moved to a colorful work of art through time and active community involvement. The room starting off as a mundane space with ordinary furniture pieces suggests that Yayoi Kusama wanted her viewers to feel safe and comfortable as these are objects that most likely everyone encounters on a daily basis, even small children. The piece has a very playful and interactive feel to it when looking at pictures of it so I can imagine that being surrounded in the environment promotes of feeling of engagement naturally. Obviously, Yayoi Kusama wanted people to interact with her piece, but it would seem that she didn’t need to ask them to engage with the piece, they just effortlessly do so due to the usage of objects of familiarity there for support. This seemed to have been successful because in the time-lapse video above, I see people comfortably sitting on the couches. Even the stickers are something that everyone has used at least once in their life. I also think that she used rather mundane white furniture at the beginning making a statement alluding to life being what you make of it. The furniture starts out plain but requires effort and energy to transform into something more exciting and full of vivacity. Not to mention, as children we are also taught to respect the furniture in our house, especially a living room set up. This would include not to draw or manipulate the furniture which is exactly what Yayoi Kusama wants with her piece.
Use in Teaching:
Speaking from an educator’s standpoint, incorporating the big idea of breaking social norms set on society would be a beneficial foundation as a concept for lessons. This would challenge students to take a good hard look at the society they live in and the pressures that they feel the need to conform in their everyday lives. Thinking in this realm would help students in the development of conceptual strength and artmaking. For example, students would have the choice to pick their own social norm that they feel obligated to obey and want to break. They then would be asked to manipulate it in such a way that feels to them like they are challenging the societal rules in place by breaking it down physically. I want students to be able to think about what it means for them to break down their artwork to explore the power that they have over society even though it may not feel like it all of the time. To be more specific, I could ask students to draw a picture of something that society pressures them to conform to in their life and then to ask students tear up this drawing into pieces of varying sizes. With the torn-up pieces they would be asked to rearrange them onto another surface. This would act like a collage and emphasize the idea that we can challenge these social norms and have the power to break them and change them. I want students to learn that they have the power to break these established norms set by society.
Speaking from an educator’s standpoint, incorporating the big idea of breaking social norms set on society would be a beneficial foundation as a concept for lessons. This would challenge students to take a good hard look at the society they live in and the pressures that they feel the need to conform in their everyday lives. Thinking in this realm would help students in the development of conceptual strength and artmaking. For example, students would have the choice to pick their own social norm that they feel obligated to obey and want to break. They then would be asked to manipulate it in such a way that feels to them like they are challenging the societal rules in place by breaking it down physically. I want students to be able to think about what it means for them to break down their artwork to explore the power that they have over society even though it may not feel like it all of the time. To be more specific, I could ask students to draw a picture of something that society pressures them to conform to in their life and then to ask students tear up this drawing into pieces of varying sizes. With the torn-up pieces they would be asked to rearrange them onto another surface. This would act like a collage and emphasize the idea that we can challenge these social norms and have the power to break them and change them. I want students to learn that they have the power to break these established norms set by society.
Discussion Questions:
*I would show students different stages of the exhibition space as well as the time-lapse video.*
*I would show students different stages of the exhibition space as well as the time-lapse video.*
- Who can describe to me what they see?
- How did this piece change over time?
- Would you want to interact with this piece if given the opportunity? Why or why not?
- If you did want to interact with this piece, where in the space would you add a sticker?
- Did your opinion change over the course of the video of this piece? Why not why not.
- Do you feel pressures from society to conform to established norms? Why or why not? Can you list some examples of these pressures? What do these pressures mean to you?
- How would you visually depict a social norm that you feel pressured by?
- If you were instructed to physically dismantle a drawing or sculpture of a social norm that you feel pressured by, how would you do so?
- Why do you think society develops social norms?
- Do you feel like you have the power to stand up to these social norms? Why or why not.
- If you do not feel like you have the power to stand up to these social norms, what would help you to do so? If yes, how would you go about this?
Source:
https://play.qagoma.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/works/obliteration_room/
https://play.qagoma.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/works/obliteration_room/