Having had no idea which artist to choose, I decided one whose name I’ve happened to hear consistently throughout several art history classes over the years: Yayoi Kusama. There is only one video under her name— Kusama’s Self-Obliteration, made in 1967 (http://www.ubu.com/film/kusama_obliteration.html). The video in its entirety plays like a fever dream, a fact certainly expedited by the unearthly music, the frequent time lapses and footage overlay, and the sequences of quick cuts to rather phantasmagorical and often unidentifiable colors and shapes (not to mention a complete lack of dialogue). Throughout the film, Kusama paints or simply sticks countless polka dots on people, animals, and objects, and later, the film focuses on a cluster of people, all nude and covered in Kusama’s polka dots, engaging in bizarre— and somewhat suggestive— activity. The polka dots seem to represent a total surrender of identity and a merging between individuals and the universe (alternatively, self-obliteration).
To be honest, I can’t quite decide whether I liked it or not, but overall, I found it to be— for lack of a better word— interesting. One can’t help but feel mesmerized. I also found a great article that actually analyzes both Kusama’s work within the film and the film itself: http://filmslie.com/watch-yayoi-kusama-self-obliteration-dissolve-identity/. (It’s not necessarily credible, but it was an intriguing read nonetheless.)
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