The thought of continually eating something like macaroni, spat out by machinery, fills me with fear and revulsion, so I make macaroni sculptures. I make them and make them and then keep on making them, until I bury myself in the process. I call this 'obliteration.'
Interpretation
The quote expresses the artist's repulsion towards conventional food and her dedication to creating art as a form of expression.
Yayoi Kusama articulates her disdain for the mechanical and artificial nature of processed food, specifically macaroni, which symbolizes a lack of authenticity and creativity. In response, she turns to art, creating macaroni sculptures as a way to confront her fears and revulsion. The process of making these sculptures becomes a form of catharsis for her, leading to what she defines as 'obliteration'—a complete immersion in her artistic process that allows her to escape the conventional and embrace her unique vision.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of creativity in overcoming fears, one might reference Kusama's quote.
A polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colourful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots can't stay alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka-dots become movement... Polka-dots are a way to infinity.
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I've never liked the word 'celebrity.' I like to photograph people who are good at what they do.
She could walk through a lightning storm without being touched; grab a bolt of lightning in the palm of her hand; use the heat of lightning to start the kindling going under her medicine pot. She turned the moon into salve, the stars into swaddling cloth, and healed the wounds of every creature walking up on two or down on four.
Film your murders like love scenes, and film your love scenes like murders.
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