3D Notebook – Yayoi Kusama, Chandelier of Grief

In the early 2000s Kusama began to produce darkened celestial mirror rooms. Varying in terms of their size and contents, these rooms are united by the use of a light source replicated endlessly with mirrors. Chandelier of Grief features a single baroque-style chandelier suspended inside a glass prism in the centre of a mirror-clad hexagonal room. The chandelier rotates slowly, its flickering light reflecting in every direction, creating the illusion of endless chandeliers. The viewer’s body is similarly multiplied into a dark and distant void. This disorienting experience – witnessing a seemingly infinite world within a confined space – connects to Kusama’s desire for us to consider our place within the universe.

Yayoi Kusama
Chandelier of Grief 2016/2018
chandelier, steel, aluminium, mirror, acrylic,
motor, plastic, LEDs
383.5 × 557.4 × 482.8 cm
Collection of the artist