草間彌生：圓點(diǎn)女王的世界

By+David+Pilling

如果你一定要問(wèn)我從什么時(shí)候開(kāi)始藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的，我可以告訴你，那是在很小很小的時(shí)候。我的一生，我活著的每一個(gè)日子，都與藝術(shù)相關(guān)。要是人可以有來(lái)世，我還想再做藝術(shù)家。無(wú)論生與死，藝術(shù)對(duì)于我來(lái)說(shuō)就是一切。

—— 草間彌生（日本藝術(shù)家）

Yayoi Kusama is 87 years old. But when she is wheeled in， on her blue polka-dotted wheelchair， she looks more like a baby， the sort you might see played by an adult in a British pantomime1）. Her face is large for a Japanese woman and at odds2） with her smallish frame. Apart from her intense， saucer-shaped eyes and the arc of deep red lipstick across her mouth， there is something masculine about her features. She wears a lurid red wig and a dress covered in polka dots. Coiled around her neck is a long red scarf decorated with black squiggles. When she is out of the spotlight， without her splashy red wig and garish outfits， she looks like a nice， grey-haired old lady. It is as if the patterns she has obsessively replicated since childhood have seeped off the canvas and into the three-dimensional world of flesh and blood.

Kusamas story begins in the conservative surroundings of rural Japan in 1929， where she was born in Matsumoto， Nagano prefecture3）， into a family of seedling merchants. One early photo， taken at the age of about 10， shows a serious， rather beautiful girl with short hair， holding an enormous bunch of chrysanthemums4）. So upstanding was her mothers family， that her father， a philanderer5） who spent much of his time in the company of geisha6）， adopted the Kusama name as his own. At around the time the photograph was taken， Kusama was already producing pencil sketches featuring dots and a net-like motif. Even a portrait of her mother， whom she hated for her strictness and prudish7） values， is covered in dots as though she were suffering from chicken pox. “My parents were a real pain，” she says. “I couldnt stand it. They were very conservative. My family had been running the business for 100 years. My parents had old customs and morals.”

From early childhood Kusama experienced “visual and aural hallucinations8）.” In her autobiography， she writes of her experience sitting among a bed of violets. “One day， I suddenly looked up to find that each and every violet had its own individual， human-like facial expression， and to my astonishment they were all talking to me.” On other occasions， “suddenly things would be flashing and glittering all around me. So many different images leaped into my eyes that I was left dazzled and dumbfounded.” Whenever these hallucinations occurred， she would rush home and draw what she had seen.

In 1948， after the war had ended， she began a formal course in Kyoto where she was instructed in Nihonga9）， a style of Japanese painting. She hated the rigidities of the master-disciple system where students were supposed to imbibe10） tradition through the sensei11）. “When I think of my life in Kyoto，” she says， “I feel like vomiting.”

She began to absorb the influences of cubism and surrealism， gleaned from magazines. In these styles she was almost entirely self-taught. Her artwork started to attract attention in Japan， where she staged several exhibitions. Some time earlier she had discovered a book by Georgia OKeeffe12） in a second-hand bookshop in Matsumoto. Something connected and she sent OKeeffe a letter， enclosing several of her watercolours. To her astonishment， OKeeffe wrote back with words of encouragement. It was the first of several letters the great American artist would send the “l(fā)owly Japanese girl.”

In spite of OKeeffes warnings that New York would be a tough place for a single Japanese woman， Kusama decided she belonged in the art scene of Americas greatest city. It was difficult to travel in those days. Japanese were restricted in the amount of foreign currency they could take out of the country， and Kusama had to sew bundles of notes into the lining of her clothes. Eventually， she made her way to New York， via Seattle， where she had persuaded one gallery to stage a small exhibition.

Her first years in New York， where she was to spend more than 15 years， were financially and psychologically traumatic. Winters in her unheated apartment were so cold she stayed up all night painting. She called it a “l(fā)iving hell.” But it did not lack for excitement. Kusama， a frenetic experimenter， absorbed everything she could. Though she played on13） her exotic qualities as a Japanese woman， often wearing a kimono14）， she became very much an American artist. “America is really the country that raised me， and I owe what I have become to her，” she wrote. Within a year she was ready to strike out on her own， telling a Japanese magazine， “I am planning to create a revolutionary work that will stun the New York art world.”

The revolution came in the form of lace-like paintings that she called “infinity nets.” She filled huge canvases， sometimes more than 30ft-long， with endlessly repeated white loops of paint. Though it must not have looked that way at the time， the “infinity nets” were to become her defining creation.

In 1966， heart problems now compounding her psychiatric afflictions， she went uninvited to the Venice Biennale15）. There， dressed in a golden kimono， she filled the lawn outside the Italian pavilion with 1，500 mirrored balls， which she offered for sale for 1，200 lire apiece. The authorities ordered her to stop， deeming it unacceptable to “sell art like hot dogs or ice cream cones.” Andrew Solomon16）， writing in Artforum many years later， said Kusamas “l(fā)ust for fame” had to be put into context. Comparing her to Andy Warhol17） he wrote， “It should not be forgotten that she was less readily accepted since she was a woman， and battling for ground in a foreign tongue， and living in a society recovering from aggressive wartime prejudice against Japan.”

Around this time， she began to stage “naked happenings18）.” It was perhaps the height of her fame， but a low point in her reputation. Bands of Kusama followers， whom she recruited through newspaper advertisements， would descend on19） a public place such as the New York Stock Exchange. There they would disrobe and cavort20） around to the sound of bongo drums， while Kusama would daub polka dots on their naked bodies. Most of the happenings were quickly curtailed by the police. One of the events took place in the famous New York financial district. Kusama issued a press release in which she suggested， in capital letters naturally， that her aim was to “OBLITERATE WALL STREET MEN WITH POLKA DOTS.” In this， as in many things， she was ahead of her time.

By 1973， depressed， broke and facing a media backlash after her five minutes of uber-fame， she returned forlorn to Japan. The reception was hostile. She knew no one and belonged to no Japanese art movement. “It must have been deeply humiliating for her to come back to Japan，” says Morris， the Tate curator. “She had a breakdown. She needed surgery. She had no money. It was burnout.”

Kusama checked herself into the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill and eventually took up permanent residence. In the 1970s and 1980s she drifted into semi-obscurity， though she wrote poetry and fiction that won her a cult following in Japan. Only in 1989， when New Yorks Center for International Contemporary Arts staged a retrospective was interest revived in her art. She became more active again， mounting several one-woman shows in the US. In 1993， she went to the Venice Biennale， this time officially， where she produced a mirrored room filled with the pumpkin sculptures that are now central to her repertoire21）. Today， her silver pumpkins fetch around half a million dollars each. Kusamas revival gained even greater force in 1998 with a major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. That was the same location where she had been stopped from staging an unauthorised protest 30 years before. Her career had come full circle.

She does not want to be associated with other commercially successful Japanese artists， such as Yoshitomo Nara22） or Takashi Murakami23）. “Such Japanese art is categorised as kawaii culture，” she says. “I have never seen my art as kawaii like that. I dont want to be seen as a Japanese artist. I just want to be able to explore my art freely in an international context.”

These days Kusamas biggest obsession is her legacy. When she was told about the price her silver pumpkins fetched， she nearly cried， not because of the financial gain but because of the recognition such large sums implied. Several times， often unprompted， she mentions the foundation she has established to spread her fame after she is gone. “I am always trying to transmit my own message to as many people as possible，” she says. “My main message is please stop war and live out the brilliance of life. I want to keep my profile as high as possible even after I have died.”

草間彌生87歲了。但是，當(dāng)她坐在帶有藍(lán)色圓點(diǎn)圖案的輪椅上被推進(jìn)房間時(shí)，她看起來(lái)更像個(gè)嬰兒，就是那種你可以在英國(guó)童話(huà)劇里看到的由成年人扮演的嬰兒。就日本女性而言，她的臉盤(pán)偏大，與她偏于小巧的身材頗不相稱(chēng)。除了那雙又大又圓、目光如炬的眼睛和唇上那抹深紅色的口紅，她的五官透出幾分陽(yáng)剛之氣。她頭戴艷麗的紅色假發(fā)，身穿一件圓點(diǎn)圖案的連衣裙，脖子上圍著一條帶有黑色波形曲線(xiàn)花紋的紅色長(zhǎng)圍巾。不處于聚光燈下時(shí)，卸下引人注目的紅色假發(fā)和過(guò)于鮮艷的服飾，她看上去就是一個(gè)頭發(fā)花白的和藹老婦人。這個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)變就仿佛她自童年起就著迷地不斷復(fù)制的圖形從畫(huà)布上溜了下來(lái)，進(jìn)入了活生生的現(xiàn)實(shí)世界中。

草間的故事開(kāi)始于氛圍保守的日本農(nóng)村。1929年，她出生在長(zhǎng)野縣松本市的一個(gè)苗木商人家庭。在一張她十歲左右拍攝的老照片上，她留著短發(fā)，表情嚴(yán)肅，手拿一大捧菊花，是個(gè)相當(dāng)漂亮的小姑娘。她的母親出身門(mén)第很高，于是她的父親，一個(gè)經(jīng)常流連于花街柳巷的浪子，入贅隨了她母親的姓氏——草間。大約在拍攝這張照片時(shí)，草間已經(jīng)開(kāi)始畫(huà)鉛筆素描了，主要是圓點(diǎn)和網(wǎng)狀圖案。就連她為母親畫(huà)的肖像上也布滿(mǎn)了小點(diǎn)，仿佛母親正在出水痘似的。她討厭母親衛(wèi)道士般嚴(yán)苛的價(jià)值觀。“我的父母非常討厭，”她說(shuō)，“我受不了他們。他們非常保守。我的家族經(jīng)營(yíng)那門(mén)生意有一百年之久了。我父母的做派和道德觀念都非常守舊?！?/p>

草間從很小的時(shí)候就有過(guò)“幻視和幻聽(tīng)”的經(jīng)歷。在她的自傳中，她寫(xiě)到自己坐在紫羅蘭花叢中的經(jīng)歷?！坝幸惶?，我忽然抬起頭，發(fā)現(xiàn)每一朵紫羅蘭都有各自獨(dú)特的、像人一樣的面部表情。令我大吃一驚的是，它們都在對(duì)我說(shuō)話(huà)。”還有些時(shí)候，“突然之間，我周?chē)囊磺卸荚陂W閃發(fā)光。好多不同的畫(huà)面躍入我的眼中，令我目眩神迷、目瞪口呆”。每當(dāng)出現(xiàn)這類(lèi)幻覺(jué)的時(shí)候，她都會(huì)急忙跑回家，把自己看到的東西畫(huà)下來(lái)。

1948年，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束后，她在京都開(kāi)始正規(guī)學(xué)習(xí)日本畫(huà)——一種日本的傳統(tǒng)繪畫(huà)。她憎恨刻板的師徒制，在這種制度下，學(xué)生要通過(guò)老師吸收傳統(tǒng)?！跋肫鹪诰┒嫉纳睿揖拖胪?。”她說(shuō)。

她開(kāi)始汲取搜集自雜志的立體主義和超現(xiàn)實(shí)主義作品的影響。她幾乎完全靠自學(xué)掌握了這些風(fēng)格。她的畫(huà)作開(kāi)始在日本引起關(guān)注，舉辦過(guò)幾次展覽。此前早些時(shí)候，她曾經(jīng)在松本的一家二手書(shū)店發(fā)現(xiàn)了一本喬治亞·奧基夫的書(shū)。由于感到與對(duì)方有相通之處，她給奧基夫?qū)懥朔庑?，信中附上了她的幾幅水彩?huà)。令她大感意外的是，奧基夫給她回了信，寫(xiě)了些鼓勵(lì)的話(huà)語(yǔ)。這是那位偉大的美國(guó)畫(huà)家寫(xiě)給這個(gè)“卑微的日本女孩”的幾封信中的第一封。

盡管奧基夫警告過(guò)她，紐約對(duì)于一名單身日本女性而言是個(gè)艱難的地方，草間依然認(rèn)定自己屬于美國(guó)最偉大城市的藝術(shù)舞臺(tái)。在那個(gè)年代，旅行不是件容易的事。當(dāng)時(shí)日本人攜帶出境的外匯數(shù)量受到限制，草間不得不把幾捆鈔票縫在衣服的襯里中。最終，她去了紐約。其間，她曾取道西雅圖，說(shuō)服當(dāng)?shù)氐囊患耶?huà)廊為她舉辦了一場(chǎng)小型畫(huà)展。

她在紐約生活的時(shí)間超過(guò)了15年。剛到紐約的頭幾年，無(wú)論從經(jīng)濟(jì)上還是從心理上都是令人痛苦的。她的公寓沒(méi)有暖氣，冬天屋里寒冷刺骨，她只好徹夜不眠，一直作畫(huà)。她將那幾年的生活稱(chēng)作“人間地獄”。但其中也不乏令人興奮之處。草間是一個(gè)極其熱衷于嘗試新鮮事物的人，吸收著她所能吸收的一切養(yǎng)料。對(duì)于自己作為一名日本女性所具有的異域特色，她會(huì)加以利用，時(shí)常身穿和服，但她實(shí)際上變成了一個(gè)非常美國(guó)化的藝術(shù)家?！懊绹?guó)是真正養(yǎng)育我的國(guó)家，我能有今天，要感謝她?！彼@樣寫(xiě)道。不出一年，她就準(zhǔn)備好獨(dú)自闖出一條新路了，她告訴一家日本雜志：“我正在計(jì)劃創(chuàng)作一件革命性的作品，一件將震驚紐約藝術(shù)界的作品。”

這場(chǎng)革命以網(wǎng)眼狀繪畫(huà)作品的形式出現(xiàn)，她將這些繪畫(huà)作品稱(chēng)作“無(wú)限的網(wǎng)”。她用顏料在巨幅畫(huà)布（有時(shí)超過(guò)30英尺長(zhǎng)）上畫(huà)滿(mǎn)了無(wú)限重復(fù)的白色圓圈。“無(wú)限的網(wǎng)”日后成了草間最具標(biāo)志性的作品，雖然當(dāng)時(shí)肯定看不出來(lái)有多了不起。

1966年，心臟問(wèn)題加重了她的精神病癥狀，她未經(jīng)邀請(qǐng)就去了威尼斯雙年展。在那兒，身穿一襲金色和服的草間用1500個(gè)鏡面反光球擺滿(mǎn)了這個(gè)意大利展廳外的草坪，并以每個(gè)球1200里拉的價(jià)格對(duì)外出售。主辦方責(zé)令她停止這一行為，認(rèn)為“像出售熱狗或冰淇淋甜筒般出售藝術(shù)”是不可接受的。許多年后，安德魯·所羅門(mén)在《藝術(shù)論壇》雜志上撰文道，草間“對(duì)成名的渴望”必須放在當(dāng)時(shí)的時(shí)代背景下考慮。在將草間與安迪·沃霍爾作比較時(shí)，他寫(xiě)道，“別忘了，她當(dāng)時(shí)不太容易被接受，因?yàn)樗且幻裕靡婚T(mén)外語(yǔ)爭(zhēng)取立足之地，并且她生活在一個(gè)對(duì)日本戰(zhàn)時(shí)的強(qiáng)烈偏見(jiàn)尚未消退的社會(huì)?！?/p>

大約是在這個(gè)時(shí)候，她開(kāi)始籌劃“裸體偶發(fā)藝術(shù)”。此時(shí)或許她的名氣達(dá)到了頂點(diǎn)，但她的聲譽(yù)卻降到了最低點(diǎn)。草間通過(guò)報(bào)紙廣告招募她的一群群追隨者，他們會(huì)突然造訪(fǎng)紐約證券交易所這樣的公共場(chǎng)所。在那里，他們會(huì)寬衣解帶，隨著小手鼓的鼓點(diǎn)聲狂歡起舞，而草間則在他們赤裸的身體上涂畫(huà)圓點(diǎn)圖案。這樣的偶發(fā)藝術(shù)行為大都很快就被警方叫停。著名的紐約金融區(qū)就上演過(guò)一次這樣的事件。為此草間發(fā)表過(guò)一篇新聞通稿，文中她表明了自己的目標(biāo)是“用圓點(diǎn)消滅華爾街的男人”——這幾個(gè)詞當(dāng)然用的是醒目的大寫(xiě)字母。在這件事上，如同在其他許多事上一樣，她走在了時(shí)代的前面。

到了1973年，草間灰心失落、不名一文，在一時(shí)的名聲大噪之后面對(duì)著媒體的集體抵制，她落寞地回到了日本。她的歸來(lái)并不受人歡迎。她舉目無(wú)親，也不屬于日本的任何藝術(shù)潮流?！盎氐饺毡疽欢钏罡星?，”泰特美術(shù)館館長(zhǎng)莫里斯說(shuō)，“她的健康狀況十分糟糕，需要做手術(shù)。她身無(wú)分文，心力交瘁?！?/p>

草間自己住進(jìn)了清和精神病院，并最終長(zhǎng)期住了下來(lái)。20世紀(jì)七八十年代，雖然她創(chuàng)作的詩(shī)歌和小說(shuō)為她在日本贏得了一些鐵桿支持者，但她還是漸漸淪入幾乎被遺忘的境地。直到1989年，紐約國(guó)際當(dāng)代藝術(shù)中心舉辦了一次回顧展，人們才又對(duì)她的藝術(shù)產(chǎn)生興趣。她再度變得更加活躍起來(lái)，并在美國(guó)舉行了幾次個(gè)展。1993年，她參加了威尼斯雙年展，這次是受官方邀請(qǐng)前往。在那里，她布置了一間鑲滿(mǎn)鏡子的房間，房間里到處擺放著南瓜雕塑——這些雕塑如今在她所有作品中占有核心地位?，F(xiàn)在，她的一個(gè)銀南瓜的售價(jià)約為50萬(wàn)美元。1998年，隨著在紐約現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)博物館舉辦的一場(chǎng)大型展覽，草間東山再起的勢(shì)頭更加強(qiáng)勁。30年前，正是在同一個(gè)地點(diǎn)，她策劃的一場(chǎng)未經(jīng)官方許可的抗議活動(dòng)被制止了。她的藝術(shù)生涯轉(zhuǎn)了一圈又回到了原點(diǎn)。

她不希望人們將她同奈良美智和村上隆等其他在商業(yè)上獲得成功的日本藝術(shù)家聯(lián)系在一起?！斑@類(lèi)日本藝術(shù)屬于可愛(ài)文化，”她說(shuō)，“我從來(lái)沒(méi)有把自己的藝術(shù)看成是像他們的那樣可愛(ài)的藝術(shù)。我不希望被視為一名日本藝術(shù)家，我只想在國(guó)際背景下自由地探索我的藝術(shù)。”

這些日子，草間最關(guān)心的是她的遺產(chǎn)問(wèn)題。當(dāng)被告知她的那些銀南瓜的價(jià)格時(shí)，她幾乎叫出聲來(lái)，這并不是因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)上的收益，而是因?yàn)槿绱烁叩膬r(jià)格背后隱含著對(duì)她的認(rèn)可。有好幾次，她主動(dòng)提到了她為了在身后繼續(xù)傳播自己的聲名而設(shè)立的基金?！拔乙恢迸Π炎约合雮鬟_(dá)的信息傳達(dá)給盡可能多的人，”她說(shuō)，“我主要想傳達(dá)的是，請(qǐng)停止戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，活出人生的精彩。我希望就算死后，我依然能盡可能地保持自己的高調(diào)形象?！?/p>

1. pantomime [?p?nt??ma?m] n. （英國(guó)尤在圣誕節(jié)演出的）童話(huà)劇;啞劇

2. at odds：不相稱(chēng)，不和諧

3. prefecture [?pri??fekt??（r）] n. 縣;管區(qū)，轄區(qū)

4. chrysanthemum [kr??s?nθ?m?m] n. 菊花

5. philanderer [f??land（?）r?] n. 玩弄女性者;風(fēng)流男子

6. geisha [?ɡe???] n.〈日〉藝妓;歌妓

7. prudish [?pru?d??] adj. 假正經(jīng)的，假道學(xué)的

8. hallucination [h??lu?s??ne??（?）n] n. 幻覺(jué)

9. Nihonga：日本畫(huà)，指日本的民族傳統(tǒng)繪畫(huà)。

10. imbibe [?m?ba?b] vt. 吸收（知識(shí)、思想等），接受

11. sensei [sen?se?] n. 〈日〉老師

12. Georgia OKeeffe：?jiǎn)讨蝸啞W基夫（1887～1986），20世紀(jì)最具傳奇色彩的美國(guó)藝術(shù)家之一，她以給人感官享受的花卉特寫(xiě)繪畫(huà)而著稱(chēng)。

13. play on：利用（感情）

14. kimono [k??m??n??] n. 和服

15. biennale [?bi?e?nɑ?le?] n.〈意〉（尤指兩年一次的）現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)（或美術(shù)）節(jié)

16. Andrew Solomon：安德魯·所羅門(mén)（1963～），美國(guó)作家，其作品涉及政治、文化和心理學(xué)。

17. Andy Warhol：安迪·沃霍爾（1928～1987），被譽(yù)為20世紀(jì)藝術(shù)界最有名的人物之一，是波普藝術(shù)的倡導(dǎo)者和領(lǐng)袖。

18. happenings：指偶發(fā)藝術(shù)（Happening Art），流行于20世紀(jì)60年代的美術(shù)流派，以表現(xiàn)偶發(fā)性事件或不期而至的機(jī)遇為手段，重現(xiàn)人的行為過(guò)程，展示人的本能反應(yīng)。

19. descend on：突然造訪(fǎng)，突然到達(dá)

20. cavort [k??v??（r）t] vi. 雀躍;嬉戲玩鬧;（常指）調(diào)情玩樂(lè)

21. repertoire [?rep?（r）?twɑ?（r）] n. 全部作品

22. Yoshitomo Nara：奈良美智（1959～），日本著名的現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)家，作品包括漫畫(huà)及動(dòng)畫(huà)，其筆下的形象非?？蓯?ài)。

23. Takashi Murakami：村上隆（1926～），日本極具影響力的現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)家，他的作品結(jié)合了日本當(dāng)代流行卡通藝術(shù)與傳統(tǒng)繪畫(huà)的特點(diǎn)。