By+David+Pilling

如果你一定要問我從什么時候開始藝術創(chuàng)作的，我可以告訴你，那是在很小很小的時候。我的一生，我活著的每一個日子，都與藝術相關。要是人可以有來世，我還想再做藝術家。無論生與死，藝術對于我來說就是一切。

—— 草間彌生（日本藝術家）

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，當她坐在帶有藍色圓點圖案的輪椅上被推進房間時，她看起來更像個嬰兒，就是那種你可以在英國童話劇里看到的由成年人扮演的嬰兒。就日本女性而言，她的臉盤偏大，與她偏于小巧的身材頗不相稱。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剛之氣。她頭戴艷麗的紅色假發(fā)，身穿一件圓點圖案的連衣裙，脖子上圍著一條帶有黑色波形曲線花紋的紅色長圍巾。不處于聚光燈下時，卸下引人注目的紅色假發(fā)和過于鮮艷的服飾，她看上去就是一個頭發(fā)花白的和藹老婦人。這個轉變就仿佛她自童年起就著迷地不斷復制的圖形從畫布上溜了下來，進入了活生生的現(xiàn)實世界中。

草間的故事開始于氛圍保守的日本農(nóng)村。1929年，她出生在長野縣松本市的一個苗木商人家庭。在一張她十歲左右拍攝的老照片上，她留著短發(fā)，表情嚴肅，手拿一大捧菊花，是個相當漂亮的小姑娘。她的母親出身門第很高，于是她的父親，一個經(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，草間已經(jīng)開始畫鉛筆素描了，主要是圓點和網(wǎng)狀圖案。就連她為母親畫的肖像上也布滿了小點，仿佛母親正在出水痘似的。她討厭母親衛(wèi)道士般嚴苛的價值觀?！拔业母改阜浅Ｓ憛?，”她說，“我受不了他們。他們非常保守。我的家族經(jīng)營那門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>

草間從很小的時候就有過“幻視和幻聽”的經(jīng)歷。在她的自傳中，她寫到自己坐在紫羅蘭花叢中的經(jīng)歷。“有一天，我忽然抬起頭，發(fā)現(xiàn)每一朵紫羅蘭都有各自獨特的、像人一樣的面部表情。令我大吃一驚的是，它們都在對我說話?！边€有些時候，“突然之間，我周圍的一切都在閃閃發(fā)光。好多不同的畫面躍入我的眼中，令我目眩神迷、目瞪口呆”。每當出現(xiàn)這類幻覺的時候，她都會急忙跑回家，把自己看到的東西畫下來。

1948年，戰(zhàn)爭結束后，她在京都開始正規(guī)學習日本畫——一種日本的傳統(tǒng)繪畫。她憎恨刻板的師徒制，在這種制度下，學生要通過老師吸收傳統(tǒng)。“想起在京都的生活，我就想吐?！彼f。

她開始汲取搜集自雜志的立體主義和超現(xiàn)實主義作品的影響。她幾乎完全靠自學掌握了這些風格。她的畫作開始在日本引起關注，舉辦過幾次展覽。此前早些時候，她曾經(jīng)在松本的一家二手書店發(fā)現(xiàn)了一本喬治亞·奧基夫的書。由于感到與對方有相通之處，她給奧基夫寫了封信，信中附上了她的幾幅水彩畫。令她大感意外的是，奧基夫給她回了信，寫了些鼓勵的話語。這是那位偉大的美國畫家寫給這個“卑微的日本女孩”的幾封信中的第一封。

盡管奧基夫警告過她，紐約對于一名單身日本女性而言是個艱難的地方，草間依然認定自己屬于美國最偉大城市的藝術舞臺。在那個年代，旅行不是件容易的事。當時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，說服當?shù)氐囊患耶嬂葹樗e辦了一場小型畫展。

她在紐約生活的時間超過了15年。剛到紐約的頭幾年，無論從經(jīng)濟上還是從心理上都是令人痛苦的。她的公寓沒有暖氣，冬天屋里寒冷刺骨，她只好徹夜不眠，一直作畫。她將那幾年的生活稱作“人間地獄”。但其中也不乏令人興奮之處。草間是一個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。對于自己作為一名日本女性所具有的異域特色，她會加以利用，時常身穿和服，但她實際上變成了一個非常美國化的藝術家?！懊绹钦嬲B(yǎng)育我的國家，我能有今天，要感謝她。”她這樣寫道。不出一年，她就準備好獨自闖出一條新路了，她告訴一家日本雜志：“我正在計劃創(chuàng)作一件革命性的作品，一件將震驚紐約藝術界的作品。”

這場革命以網(wǎng)眼狀繪畫作品的形式出現(xiàn)，她將這些繪畫作品稱作“無限的網(wǎng)”。她用顏料在巨幅畫布（有時超過30英尺長）上畫滿了無限重復的白色圓圈。“無限的網(wǎng)”日后成了草間最具標志性的作品，雖然當時肯定看不出來有多了不起。

1966年，心臟問題加重了她的精神病癥狀，她未經(jīng)邀請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個鏡面反光球擺滿了這個意大利展廳外的草坪，并以每個球1200里拉的價格對外出售。主辦方責令她停止這一行為，認為“像出售熱狗或冰淇淋甜筒般出售藝術”是不可接受的。許多年后，安德魯·所羅門在《藝術論壇》雜志上撰文道，草間“對成名的渴望”必須放在當時的時代背景下考慮。在將草間與安迪·沃霍爾作比較時，他寫道，“別忘了，她當時不太容易被接受，因為她是一名女性，用一門外語爭取立足之地，并且她生活在一個對日本戰(zhàn)時的強烈偏見尚未消退的社會?！?/p>

大約是在這個時候，她開始籌劃“裸體偶發(fā)藝術”。此時或許她的名氣達到了頂點，但她的聲譽卻降到了最低點。草間通過報紙廣告招募她的一群群追隨者，他們會突然造訪紐約證券交易所這樣的公共場所。在那里，他們會寬衣解帶，隨著小手鼓的鼓點聲狂歡起舞，而草間則在他們赤裸的身體上涂畫圓點圖案。這樣的偶發(fā)藝術行為大都很快就被警方叫停。著名的紐約金融區(qū)就上演過一次這樣的事件。為此草間發(fā)表過一篇新聞通稿，文中她表明了自己的目標是“用圓點消滅華爾街的男人”——這幾個詞當然用的是醒目的大寫字母。在這件事上，如同在其他許多事上一樣，她走在了時代的前面。

到了1973年，草間灰心失落、不名一文，在一時的名聲大噪之后面對著媒體的集體抵制，她落寞地回到了日本。她的歸來并不受人歡迎。她舉目無親，也不屬于日本的任何藝術潮流。“回到日本一定令她深感屈辱，”泰特美術館館長莫里斯說，“她的健康狀況十分糟糕，需要做手術。她身無分文，心力交瘁?！?/p>

草間自己住進了清和精神病院，并最終長期住了下來。20世紀七八十年代，雖然她創(chuàng)作的詩歌和小說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，紐約國際當代藝術中心舉辦了一次回顧展，人們才又對她的藝術產(chǎn)生興趣。她再度變得更加活躍起來，并在美國舉行了幾次個展。1993年，她參加了威尼斯雙年展，這次是受官方邀請前往。在那里，她布置了一間鑲滿鏡子的房間，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，她的一個銀南瓜的售價約為50萬美元。1998年，隨著在紐約現(xiàn)代藝術博物館舉辦的一場大型展覽，草間東山再起的勢頭更加強勁。30年前，正是在同一個地點，她策劃的一場未經(jīng)官方許可的抗議活動被制止了。她的藝術生涯轉了一圈又回到了原點。

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家聯(lián)系在一起?！斑@類日本藝術屬于可愛文化，”她說，“我從來沒有把自己的藝術看成是像他們的那樣可愛的藝術。我不希望被視為一名日本藝術家，我只想在國際背景下自由地探索我的藝術。”

這些日子，草間最關心的是她的遺產(chǎn)問題。當被告知她的那些銀南瓜的價格時，她幾乎叫出聲來，這并不是因為經(jīng)濟上的收益，而是因為如此高的價格背后隱含著對她的認可。有好幾次，她主動提到了她為了在身后繼續(xù)傳播自己的聲名而設立的基金?！拔乙恢迸Π炎约合雮鬟_的信息傳達給盡可能多的人，”她說，“我主要想傳達的是，請停止戰(zhàn)爭，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形象?！?/p>

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

2. at odds：不相稱，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，假道學的

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

9. Nihonga：日本畫，指日本的民族傳統(tǒng)繪畫。

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

11. sensei [sen?se?] n. 〈日〉老師

12. Georgia OKeeffe：喬治亞·奧基夫（1887～1986），20世紀最具傳奇色彩的美國藝術家之一，她以給人感官享受的花卉特寫繪畫而著稱。

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（或美術）節(jié)

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

17. Andy Warhol：安迪·沃霍爾（1928～1987），被譽為20世紀藝術界最有名的人物之一，是波普藝術的倡導者和領袖。

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

19. descend on：突然造訪，突然到達

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

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)代藝術家，作品包括漫畫及動畫，其筆下的形象非?？蓯?。

23. Takashi Murakami：村上隆（1926～），日本極具影響力的現(xiàn)代藝術家，他的作品結合了日本當代流行卡通藝術與傳統(tǒng)繪畫的特點。