Yayoi Kusama Exhibit Causes Orthosatisfusion

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Yayoi Kusama Exhibit Causes Orthosatisfusion

Yayoi Kusama’s exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum is definitely a treat for the senses. But what may not be commonly acknowledged is that it is also an opportunity to experience some very complex emotions. In fact, they are so complex and novel that I actually had to invent names for them:

SelFUD: The (self-inflicted) complex emotions of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, combined with the feeling of “why am I putting myself through this, no one forced me to” as you wait in line for tickets.

Sub-privilege: Membership usually has privileges, but in this case, they are very minor. Even as a member, you wait for at least 2 hours. This lets you experience a new emotion I am calling “sub-privilege” – the feeling you get when what you thought was a great privilege turns out to be just a minor advantage, if that.

Hyperdisappointment: This exhibit has been so hyped that you end up having incredibly high expectations. While her art is definitely amazing and a treat for the senses, I don’t think anything can measure up to the hype that precedes it. (This is not just me saying, you can read reviews from far more respected reviewers than me). This leads you to experience unfair disappointment caused by heightened expectations due to overhyping i.e. “hyperdisappointment”.

Underhypleasure: In Kusama’s case though, the hyperdisappointment turns out to be a bit of a blessing because it leads you to experience another emotion as you start to leave the exhibit after having seen all the infinity rooms. It prepares you to really look at her other art, which was placed along the way but you had ignored earlier in your eagerness to see the infinity rooms. You also read about her life and watch her video where she answers questions about her work and motivations and so on and get a much better picture of her as an artist. The hyperdisappointment has prepared your mind to now really take a look at those other pieces of art and information carefully and experience the pleasure in that i.e. Underhypleasure.

Orthosatisfusion: You went in thinking you will get something, then you didn’t quite get that, but you got something else in a totally orthogonal direction. Thus, you are left confused at the end but still quite satisfied in an unexpected way i.e. orthosatisfusion.

I suspect that last one might actually be extremely common – not just in art, but in one’s life in general.