I am deeply terrified by the obsessions crawling over my body; whether they come from within me or from outside. I fluctuate between feelings of reality and unreality. I; myself; delight in my obsessions.Yayoi Kusama is one of the most significant contemporary artists at work today. This engaging autobiography tells the story of her life and extraordinary career in her own words; revealing her as a fascinating figure and maverick artist who channels her obsessive neuroses into an art that transcends cultural barriers. Kusama describes the decade she spent in New York; first as a poverty stricken artist and later as the doyenne of an alternative counter-cultural scene. She provides a frank and touching account of her relationships with key art-world figures; including Georgia OKeeffe; Donald Judd and the reclusive Joseph Cornell; with whom Kusama forged a close bond. In candid terms she describes her childhood and the first appearance of the obsessive visions that have haunted her throughout her life. Returning to Japan in the early 1970s; Kusama checked herself into a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo where she resides to the present day; emerging to dedicate herself with seemingly endless vigour to her art and her writing.This remarkable autobiography provides a powerful insight into a unique artistic mind; haunted by fears and phobias yet determined to maintain her position at the forefront of the artistic avant-garde. In addition to her artwork; Yayoi Kusama is the author of numerous volumes of poetry and fiction; including The Hustlers Grotto of Christopher Street; Manhattan Suicide Addict and Violet Obsession.
#126236 in eBooks 2016-03-01 2016-03-01File Name: B00B3M3VMI
Review
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Not that good.By Barny Rubble 33Its great if youre just looking for a picture book. But the biggest part of Cosplaying is making the costumes and this book has no tips and tricks on using the various materials that go in to putting together costumes. At least one chapter on creating costumes would have been great.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Comic-Con in your living room =)By Mr Groovy 70sFINALLY; as somebody who has had costuming/cosplaying aspirations ever since 1980 when I was eight years old (yes; it HAS been that long as I can remember; believe it or not); I never in a million years would have even guessed such a book would make its way to the cosplaying community as well as future cosplayers like myself. All the photography and the poses of the cosplayers themselves do look pretty darn spectacular; but Im giving it 3 out of 5 stars because the anime/manga and video game cosplay groups take up more than half the book; while giving such little minimal coverage to all the other cosplay groups; mainly movies/TV; comic books and miscellaneous. So why is that? For example; in the latter three groups just mentioned; theres only one Star Wars pic of Princess Leia being surrounded by stormtroopers; one Iron Man; two Captain Americas; five Poison Ivys; NO Spider-Men and NOTHING from Battlestar Galactica neither. WOW; I dont believe it; what a letdown. Spider-Man; Stormtroopers; Iron Man; and the cylons from BG have always been my all-time favorites; which I cant help but feel very blown away by them all.Now; back to 1980 when I was eight: I was visiting a rodeo with my family at the time; and before I knew it; I came across this one guy wearing full-body cylon armor. WHOA. I was almost tempted to ask him if he could remove his helmet; but he just stared at me; and I just tipped my cowboy hat to him and walked away. But in retrospect; I just couldnt help remember thinking "Cool! Thats me!" and; as hard as this may sound; still is with me to this very day. But; fortunately; my hometown in Indiana did put on its ever Comic-Con two years ago; so I did get the opportunity to cosplay as another one of my favorites; the Clock King; who I really do feel I can relate to. And it WAS jam-packed; and I was there for only a couple of hours. But nonetheless; I really did have an absolute BLAST; felt like I was on cloud nine THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME I WAS THERE; to say the least :-)But one other criticism I have with the book is that it offers no DIY tips or how-to instructions for any cosplay novices; or costuming and prop-making in general. So with all due respects to Yaya Han; and I hope she doesnt take this the wrong way if she ever gets wind of this post; Im offering a tip right here for any interested would-be (and current) cosplayers: try googling "League of Heroes" off the computer because what they are is a grassroots organization of superhero/villain cosplayers which has a message board where you can get DIY tips and how-to instructions on costuming and prop-building as well as wanting to get started in cosplaying too as well. Because I; myself; happen to wear glasses just like the Clock King; I was wondering how to make small hour hands on my lenses and how to make an hour hand cane too. I had asked that on the LOH message board; and as it turns out; there was this Batman cosplayer from Alabama who was nice enough to tell me to do that with a non-permanent marker which is exactly what I did. But yet; there was nobody to tell me on how to fashion an hour hand cane. So what I did; was buy a long walking stick with a loop handle off the computer; did some sketches and outlines of the hour hand cane off Batman:TAS DVD to use as template; took some flattened cardboard to run the length of the stick; went over the cardboard with an X-acto knife and metal ruler to make a giant hour hand; seal it shut with tape and a hot-glue gun; spray paint it gold; let it dry for six hours; and VOILA there it was; my first attempt at prop-making; AOK; in which my first cosplay outing turned out to be AWESOME =)So; anyways; I guess Ive rambled on long enough. But other than that; I dont want Ms. Han taking any of this as a cheap shot; Im not at all telling her to write a cosplaying book; Im not at all in any way in it for myself; but ALL the cosplay groups DO deserve equal treatment and besides; events like Comic-Con are not very common in my area. Plus; to Sgt. Sparky; the Batman from Alabama; I will also be eternally grateful :-)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Bad pictures of girls in MangaBy Jared T. Williamswow. 1000 cosplay ideas and 998 of them are pictures of girls.I bought this for my sons birthday who is legitimately interested in cosplay and serious about making hard to make costumes of current characters (especially game based ones).Not only are there almost zero male characters in it (and I mean it; like almost zero); the games and films they cover are about 15 years old (which for a book published in 2013 is sad).The pictures look like they are all taken by the same photographer of about 6 girl models and there is almost ZERO info on how-to; tips on materials and resources. How is it an idea book if there are no ideas about how to make anything??Its basically a photo book of manga girls in cool costumes that looks like it was taken by a 50 year old man who stopped playing games in 2003.Which you should call it- then it would actually be alright!Super disappointed.thumbs waaay down.