Infinity

The buzz-generating show so far has been open only to members, and it requires a purchased ticket. The public can start buying tickets on July 16, and you’ll want to buy yours on that day if possible (see accompanying info).

“Infinity Mirrors” does seem to fall into the mustsee category.

“It’s the first exhibition of Yayoi Kusama here in Cleveland,” Thüring said. “It’s one of the most-talked-about exhibitions in the United States of the last two years. It brings together seven Infinity Mirror Rooms, which is the most ever shown together, so I think it creates an incredible opportunity for a very broad range of audiences, from young people (and) people with little experience in art museums to people who know a lot about art.”

Like the exhibit itself, the rooms are tough to describe, Kusama using mirrors, various lighting effects and other visuals to say … something. She has given the rooms titles that include “Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity” (2009) — that one with seemingly infinite points of light — “Phalli’s Field” (1965) and “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” (2013).

Once you have a ticket to see the show at a specific time, the next restriction to be aware of is that, perhaps a little ironically, you get anything but an infinite amount of time in any Infinity Mirror Room. Guests are given 20 to 30 seconds inside a room, during which they can gaze into the bizarre visuals, try to capture them with a camera or — this being 2018 — try to get that most amazing of selfies.

Does Thüring have any tips on what to think about during that finite amount of time?

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I think that would be pretentious to kind of tell someone what to think in there. I would say 30 seconds is plenty of time … . It’s longer than you might think. It may not be enough time to take a picture, take a selfie and then also look at the art.”

(Note that photographs are prohibited in one of the rooms, “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins.”)

As stunning as it can be to stand inside one of these rooms, the most-arresting visual experience comes, arguably, via one into which you can only peer through a square hole, “Love Forever” (1966/1994). You will encounter a mix of lighting effects and mirrors, one far ahead in your field of view, reflecting your image in the distance. Thüring said it is one of his favorite pieces in the show.

However, some of his favorite aspects of the show are not the Infinity Mirror Rooms, the curator citing Kusama’s drawings from early in her career.

Among other pieces you will see:

— “Accumulation,” a series of soft sculptures Kusama began making in the early ’60s — before the aforementioned first Infinity Mirror Room, “Phalli’s Field” — made by hand by sewing numerous “soft and stuffed phallic tubers” and attaching them to various objects, such as a baby stroller or a chair.

— “Dots Obsession Love Transformed Into Dots” (2007), a themed collection of pieces involving polkadotted vinyl balloons hanging from the ceiling and protruding up from the floor, a video projection, a mirror room inside a dome and another dome with a peep-in visual.

— “Life (Repetitive Vision” (1998), a series of reptile limb-like protrusions constructed of stuffed cotton, urethane, paint and wood.

— “The Obliteration Room” (2002), a room not of mirrors but of various household items, all painted completely white. Visitors can sit on the furniture — a word game is in progress on a coffee table between two couches — and they are given dot stickers of different colors to stick anywhere you like. (You may feel pressure, thinking that where you choose to put your dots says something about you, until you realize nobody cares.)

“(The show) really spans the whole arc of A) Kusama’s career as an artist and B) her oeuvre in terms of media,” Thüring said. “There’s a lot of diversity. It’s not just the mirror rooms — it’s so much more than that.

“She’s really been at the forefront of artistic innovation for a very long time, and she has had a tremendous influence on many artists.”

“(Yayoi Kusama has) really been at the forefront of artistic innovation for a very long time, and she has had a tremendous influence on many artists.” — Reto Thüring, Cleveland Museum of Art’s curator of contemporary art

PHOTOS BY MARK MESZOROS — THE NEWS-HERALD A smartphone photograph captures some of the wonder inside Yayoi Kusama’s “Love Forever.” When peering inside the only one of the seven Infinity Mirror Rooms on display in “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” at the Cleveland Museum of Art that you cannot...

“Life (Repetitive Vision” is one of the unusual installations in the show.

You are given a sheet with a few stickers before entering “The Obliteration Room” so you can leave your round, colored mark.