Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Yayoi Kusama Polka-Dot Pumpkins

 


Begin this week's project by watching this short video about Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.  She is sometimes called "The Princess of Polka Dots" because of her love of all things spotted.  She has become famous for polka dots!  She thinks of herself as one dot in a universe of dots, so a dotted pattern can make her "disappear" among lots of dots.  It's kind of like one person disappearing in a huge crowd.  She calls this obliteration.  That's a big word that means to make something go away.  

Watch here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUoDUhsWJL8
Read here:  https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-yayoi-kusama

Another way to make things disappear is to camouflage them against a similar background.  If you put a spotted object in front of a spotted background, it is hard to see.  
We would say it is camouflaged.    
Kusama would say the object has been obliterated.  
Look at this picture of Kusama with one of her pumpkin sculptures.  Her dress, the pumpkin, and the wall look similar.  They all blend together!

This week's art project challenge is to make a polka dot pumpkin and then to obliterate it!  You will create a little sculpture and then design a background to make it camouflaged.  Look at these examples by Prescott students, and then watch the video for directions. 



Add your work to ARTSONIA!

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