APT 2002 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia : Report

Frequency Percent Narcissus Garden 29 34.1 Infinity Room 36 42.4 Flying Angels 2 2.4 Blue Green Bridge 12 14.1 Who Am We 3 3.5 Flowers 2 2.4 Tie 1 1.2 Total 85 100.0 Children’s remarks on Kusama’s work indicate that there are several features of her art that appeal, as seen in this cross section of comments on why they liked Narcissus garden : “You can touch the ball in real water”, “You get to spin them and see yourself”, “Really shiny”, “When you rolled them, they made a nice noise when they bang together”, “I’m amazed – they can float!”, and “So cool! She names her art after infinity. You can see yourself many times.”. Regarding Soul under the moon (Infinity Room) , children commented as follows: “It was like you were hovering”, “Felt like there was no floor”, “Pretty, lots of colours”, “Scary”, “Awesome. It’s a really good idea. Really cool. Amazing effect; it was like space”, “Had never been in one before”, “Kept on going”, “Can see it goes on forever and ever but it doesn’t. It’s just mirrors”, “So interesting – it glowed in the dark”, “It’s psychedelic.” These findings indicate that children enjoyed the sensory and aesthetic values of the art works, and especially enjoyed the playful and social situations set up by their encounters with the works in the Gallery. The children were captivated by the strange and unfamiliar nature of the exhibits and experienced a “wow” effect that made an enduring impact on them during their visit. Interestingly, children across all age ranges and both genders expressed preference for works of art. Performance A range of performances were scheduled over the 15 day festival period. Children’s participation in events varied due to the schedule of storytellers, stage performances and demonstrations. Children selected from a restricted sample of performances during the interview process, and showed a clear preference for the festival mascot, Bug Master . This result may be somewhat misleading, since many children indicated that the mascot was the ONLY performance they had seen or participated in during their visit. 105