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| - "Go inside!"
Looks of bewilderment. "You can walk inside," the lady explains. "See..." then shows us into the dark room.
We were in the Modern Art wing of the PAM, peering around a nondescript corner, and stumbled upon what we thought was a hidden, doorway-sized piece of art. In contrast to the white walls of the museum, it looked like this was simply pitch blackness with some color-shifting lights that appeared to have some spatial dimension to them--maybe a foot or two deep? We were intrigued, and naturally curious, so we were standing there inching closer to the piece with our hands out trying to gauge the depth. We were just about to shrug and turn back around when another patron saved us from missing out on a great experience. "Go inside!" she said; and we were so glad we did!
The piece is by Yayoi Kusama called "You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies," and it is a walk-through exhibit. It's hard to tell if you're not expecting it. I mean, the museum staff gets uptight if you even stand too close to anything. So, we had no idea you could go inside...especially a pitch black room. But, as I mentioned, we were saved from a potential misfortune by a good Samaritan, and we walked inside.
Inside the room it is very, very dark. And there are lights everywhere! In fact, they hang from the ceiling on strings, so you're actually bumping into the strings of lights as you move around. There are mirrors on every wall, and on the ceiling and floor, so the lights go on forever and ever. And they change colors. Then they're the same color; then they shift in brightness...there are many, many variations, changing the mood with every shift. And it feels like you're floating in space. And...the whole thing is just amazing.
We were so moved by the piece, that I can recommend visiting the Phoenix Art Museum just for the Kusama piece alone.
Oh, and when we were finished walking through the piece, we walked all the way around to the entrance again to save the next patron from missing out. And sure enough, we saw someone turn the corner, pause for a minute, and start to back out. The same mistake we were about to make....
"Go inside," we said.
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