"It looks very nice." "Hello." "Thank you for coming." "Do you adore anybody as an artist?" "Van Gogh is another great creator." "Paul Klein is also wonderful." "Jackson Pollock is good too." "Picasso is also good." "...the present never ends at the stairs to heaven, my heart expires in their tenderness." "I'm an excellent creator." "I've always been a pioneer in my work." "I'm filled with originality." "I've never imitated other creators." "Do you mind if I shake your hand?" "Thank you so much." "May I?" "Thank you very much." "Artists think their own pieces are the best, so we don't see things that way." "We can't live if we don't believe ours are the best." "You can't be an artist if you don't make up your mind that..." ""I'm the one who creates the best work."" "Isn't this great?" "This will outshine actresses." "This is gorgeous." "Hello." "Hello, Ms. Kusama." "Hi, Yoko." "Hello." "Hi, Naho." "Hello." "Hi, Etsuko." "Did I receive that letter from Boston?" "Yes, they replied and I'm preparing some pictures from that time, catalogs and some kind of certificate to send to Boston." "That's good." "Thank you." "Could you take a look?" "What is this?" "A flyer for your show in Akita." "Looks good." "Will you take that out please?" "Oh, so many sent me flowers." "I'm ready to sign now." "Let's go, Taka." "Shall we go?" "Ms. Kusama, you received a lot of flowers." "Yes." "This is great." "There are more of those at the hospital." "It's your birthday." "Congratulations." "Thank you very much." "Let's see." "How about making the part of the stem looking toward us, the front?" "Okay." "Is this okay?" "Do I sign down here?" "Then, how about signing on the back?" "Okay, can I have a pen?" "Ink too low?" "The pen is okay." "Really?" "It's a silver pen." "It's not so clear but works fine." "Is Naho working today?" "Yes, she is." "I want to go to the other building and draw." "Okay." "Can you get Naho for me?" "Okay." "Ms." "Kusama?" "Yes?" "May I ask you something?" "What?" "How old are you?" "What?" "How old are you?" "I can't talk about that." "I don't care to be asked such things." "I don't want my age mentioned." "I don't think my age has anything to do with my work." "Because people ask such things, I really don't like giving interviews." "Looks nice." "Have my pictures been moved?" "Yes." "To bring the pumpkin here we had to move the pictures." "Can you bring me my glasses?" "Yes." "It's a big thing having it in here." "This is done." "Now, over here..." "What should I do?" "It takes lots of time to draw each thing." "I've finished 30 pieces, right?" "Yes, you've already done 30." "Another 20 drawings makes it 50, then." "Ms. Kusama, you can make 50 easily." "I can do this because you're here, otherwise there would be no way I could." "I'm happy if I can help you in some way." "It is after all..." "Let me tell you." "I can't be alone because I'll get delusional." "So you just get so detailed-oriented?" "Yes." "It is really difficult for me to work today because of you." "I'm sorry." "I usually have ideas in abundance but you are here." "Not like this, much better ideas." "Your being here is bothering me." "Sorry to say it like that." "Don't be sorry." "But this is very nice too." "Do you think so?" "It'll be much easier after this much is done." "It's almost the same as complete." "Right, indeed." "So did you keep painting like this when you were in NY?" "Yes, from morning to night a month or two, three months." "But not something like this." "I kept painting the same thing, only nets and dots." "So did you want to keep painting nets?" "After all, I think painting with the act of repetition is... mentally..." "It relaxes me, the repetition." "So you felt at ease by painting nets." "No." "I felt nothingness." "At this Armory Show in New York, the greatest art trade show, my works became the standard." "Everyone said mine was the best by far." "I saw an article in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, saying that the international value of Yayoi Kusama is rising rapidly." "It was sold for 1.5 million dollars..." "actually about 1.6 million dollars." "Such pieces one after another, so everyone wants to find one." "Some even came to Japan to search for one." "Does it make you happy hearing such news?" "Well, I'm more concerned about what I should do to create a new world." "Sorry to interrupt your work." "What is it?" "There was a phone call from the Agency for Cultural Affairs." "They wanted to tell you personally so I'm supposed to call them back." "What does that Agency want?" "Let me call them for you." "I will transfer you to Yayoi Kusama." "Just a moment, please." "Thank you." "Hello." "Yes." "I see." "I am Yayoi Kusama." "It's a pleasure." "Yes." "The spring conferment of decorations, I see." "Yes." "Yes." "The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette." "Thank you very much." "I am honored to receive this award." "A bit ago, I received both the Foreign Affairs Ministry Award and... the Education Ministry's Science and Culture Award." "In addition to that, I've received an award from France, "Officier"... in the French Legion of Honor and the Nagano prefecture governor's award." "I also received some other awards from a few other places." "Right, do you..." "Yes." "Could you hold on please?" "Yoko, will you take this?" "Hello, this is Kawasaki speaking." "Give them the address." "Let me check with Ms. Kusama." "What is it?" "Do you prefer your title as abstract artist or avant-garde artist?" "Hello, make it avant-garde artist please." "I prefer avant-garde artist, avant-garde artist, Yayoi Kusama." "This is a big deal." "Indeed..." "If you would be so kind." "Yes." "Okay." "I understand." "Thank you for calling." "Goodbye." "Anything else, Yoko?" "We need to keep it a secret until April 29th." "Really?" "Will you write that down and make it big enough for me to read?" "I'm feeling my age, really." "I felt a bit down." "If 10 years younger." "I would have felt happy." "But still, this is something good, isn't it?" "Yeah, a little bit." "So the emperor will give the medal to me in person at the Imperial Palace." "This one can be finished today." "I will do that." "Looking forward to seeing it." "Thank you, Yoko." "You're welcome." "I wonder what I should wear." "So many cherry-blossoms." "This is beautiful." "It's a row of cherry trees." "Yes, indeed." "It's nice today, not so cold." "It's wonderful weather." "Right." "Etsujiro Uehara, a former cabinet member, his ashes were buried in two places." "Part in Aoyama Cemetery and the rest in Misato Village." "My ashes should be done just like his, I think." "The Matsumoto one is easy since it's already prepared." "The Tokyo one, you can look after." "Right?" "Cherry blossoms are my favorite flower." "The wind blows and scatters them..." "They all bloom at once and all scatter at once." "I think it's like a person's life." ""Cherry Blossoms"" "I want to eat cherry blossoms." "I want to kiss their pink colors." "Their scent that would have reached the universe dissipated in my youth." "Remembering that, now tears roll down from my eyes." "Scattering cherry blossom petals on the path of my faint love." "I will be facing death someday." "When that day arrives... with all the love that I have had in my past, I will enwrap life." "On that moment... the flower path of cherry blossoms will envelop the whole of me without fail." "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms." "They explore my life and death." "Dear cherry blossoms, I thank you." "It's done." "So many magazines write about me." "It's difficult to organize them." "What is this?" "Let me explain in order." "Okay." "Will you explain them to me?" "This is an article about art spots in Omotesando." "Here are your works." "Right." "Okay." "How about this one?" "That also shows your works." "I see." "Oh, this magazine... has Murakami's works." "It seems it was a feature called "Made in Japan"" "I see." "My works are much better." "Don't you think?" "That's so obvious." "This is overwhelmingly better." "This one and this one too." "Okay." "What is this?" "The same one." "I see." "Then how about this?" "Isao, what is this?" "The "Tokyo-Berlin/ Berlin-Tokyo" exhibition." "Is this another copy of that?" "Yes." "Okay." "You like looking at articles about yourself, don't you?" "I'm analyzing how they see my work." "You mean what people think?" "No..." "Analyzing the present." "Sometimes there are useless art critics." "Sometimes a bad creator gets famous." "There are a lot of things happening." "I'm interested in how I am evaluated." "The value changes all the time." "Is it tough to live in the art world?" "Well, it is tough to make a living." "Since I became famous, things have gotten easier financially." "But mentally, I have to fight with my aging." "Also, I have to try even harder than when I was young." "Oh, this is about me." "Yoko." "Yes." "Can I have that one?" "There's an article about me." "Shall I put on a sticky?" "Please." "You're so strong." "Think so?" "I have endured passing through my ups and downs." "Shall we get on the bus now?" "Ms." "Kusama, congratulations." "Thank you." "You look nice." "Could you please show us the medal?" "It's just a small medal." "No." "This is a big deal." "We can't go with you into the palace." "Will you tell us about it later?" "I see." "Okay, later." "Looking forward to that." "Shall we go?" "We've got to catch a bus." "See you." "I'll talk to you later." "I think it's gonna be splendid." "Well, when I'm standing in front of a canvas, I don't have to think." "There's nothing in my head." "My hands just move." "My hands do the job and somehow it's done." "When I'm facing a canvas, my mind is blank." "And ideas just come in my head when I'm drawing." "I get the image of a complete picture in my head and I follow that." "Ms. Kusama, this looks great!" "You must be tired." "Why don't we stand it up and take a good look?" "Shall we start?" "Ms. Kusama, can you see the yellow frame from there?" "I can see it." "Will you keep looking at it?" "I can see my dress." "I can see my hair too." "Is it reflecting?" "Is everybody ready?" "Shall we?" "3, 2, 1, Ms. Kusama, please." ""Now That You Have Died" Dedicated to my late parents." "Now that you have died." "Your souls have gone forever, over the clouds of cotton roses, dusted with the rainbow's powder of light." "But you and I parted our ways... at the end of never-ending conflicts between love and hatred..." "Takakura, can we do it again?" "The first one is okay like it is." "The second one, "Now That You Have Died" I want to do that again." "If you please." "Hello, everyone." "I'd like to read a poem I wrote." ""Filled with the Brilliance of Life" by Yayoi Kusama" "That's the title." "What is beauty?" "It is the prototype of love." "Who cares if death is lying in wait." "Run the royal road fast." "Ah poor Kusama, her heartbeat is quickening." "It is cruel to make her run that fast." "Besides, she is suffering from a fast pulse." "I know this is why she has been in the hospital." "I have kept this a secret, until now." "Death, speak to me no more." "Because a deep emotion toward death has begun burning inside me." "I want to dash across the path to pursue art which has given me... the deepest sensation in my life, with greater devotion than ever." "Rather than living, thinking only about death," "I want to fly as high as my "life" permits... with the power of art and soar into the sky." "If God is hiding in the clouds," "I hope he would gaze at me through an opening." "Because I want him to know that I have left marks in the universe, as proof of what a wonderful life I have been living." "Thank you for listening." "My heart seeks beauty forever," "I've been walking my way with art to express the beauty of humanity, the magnificence of death, and the great hope of living a life." "I hope I'll continue to create art until the last minute of my life... and I hope my art impresses people." "Thank you." "You did a great job!" "Thank you all." "Thank you for your hard work." "And to you as well." "You are such a great performer." "Really?" "I'm much obliged to you." "Thank you for coming this far." "Thank you for your hard work." "This is a printed one." "This one here?" "This is very nice." "But this is still a test print." "The canvas is a little rough, so..." "This is good." "It's almost same as the original." "Is this one from the...?" "Yes, this is it." "So does it look like this?" "She means "exactly the same."" "So, exactly?" " See, the gaps between the thick threads." " Yeah, but that's canvas." "It's worth it to come this far." "Do you like it?" "This is brilliant." "Have you printed one bigger than this before?" "The width, this is the widest one." "Gently, gently." "Do you keep the originals at your place?" "I keep them at an incorporated foundation and they can be shown... at a retrospective exhibition in the international arena." "The originals must mean a lot to you." "You put a lot of yourself into creating." "Creating the originals takes enormous energy." "My mind is consumed." "I'm totally exhausted." "We have a deadline for sending them to NY and to make that happen... we need Mr. Ishida to put a priority on each piece." "So will you?" "Right, to meet the deadline, all need to be done at top speed." "Should we leave?" "Thank you." "Thank you for coming." "Please take care of it." "Thank you for today." "Thank you for coming." "This is..." "This is the first print." "I think it was 1979." "Maybe earlier." "This was made in the next year." "What was Ms. Kusama like when you first met her?" "Her spirit has never changed." "Physically aging is unavoidable I guess, but..." "She's not so different than my first impression of her." "I see." "Do you mean her spirit of creating?" "Yeah, her spirit hasn't changed." "By accident, I spoke in a Nagano dialect." "He said "imagine a penguin, that would be the image of Yayoi."" "Really?" "56... 57..." "1, 2, 3." "Wow, beautiful." "That's beautiful." "1, 2, 3." "Wow, this is a great piece." "It's mine, but I'm impressed." "It's mine, but I'm impressed." "This is a great picture." "Wow, great." "Let me see." "This is great." "Wow, wonderful." "It would be sensational, if this exhibition were held in Tokyo." "I sigh in admiration." "They are so beautiful." "Wow!" "Can I see it?" "It is gorgeous." "People in NY are gonna love these." "Looking forward to the opening day?" "May I?" "Everyone, come here." "Shall we start?" "What kind of people do you want to see your work in NY?" "Well, people who really love avant-garde pictures or who lead creative lives..." "I want those particular kinds of people to see my works." "And if my works give a revelation to people of the upcoming generation, that would be the happiest thing for me." "I'll shoot inside the gallery to show how it'll go and interview the visitors." "Will you shoot every inch of New York?" "Every inch of New York?" "Who's this?" "She is one of the visitors." "I see." "So many visitors kept coming." "This is wonderful." "It's very crowded." "This is the site of the flat where you used to live." "Really?" "It is." "This man..." "Who is he?" "Do you remember him?" "He's one of my black friends..." "Frank." "That's not it." "I can't remember his name." "He is a painter and he was close to me." "He used to live in the apartment on 19th St. when you lived there." "He's Ed Clark." "Oh, Ed Clark." "He's gotten old." "Who is this man?" "He's Tom Doyle." "What?" "He's Tom Doyle." "I see." "You've challenged yourself in so many different ways, trying to sell your art." "All the artists in NY were like that." "It's very hard to make a living by painting." "Some were financially dependent on their husbands." "Grace Hartigan got married to a billionaire and quit painting." "It's unbelievably severe fighting there... not just to paint but to make a living." "I tried to paint something new like nobody had ever made." "So I did dots which I'd been doing since my childhood." "I had to try everything to somehow earn a living by painting." "I didn't have a picture dealer, so it was very harsh." "You must have had personal magnetism for people in NY too." "It must have been very hard for a Japanese woman to sell paintings... in NY even if she were very talented." "You had not only personal magnetism but also business sense, I guess." "Maybe, because I was born into a merchant family." "I was serious about business." "I had to fight to earn my daily bread." "It's a war out there." "It's very tough right now." "The Praemium Imperiale has been given to people from different countries..." "Yoyoi Kusama is the 8th award recipient from Japan, the 1st in the printing category and also the 1st Japanese female recipient." "The photo opportunity is ending." "Thank you for coming." "The international press conference for 18th Praemium Imperiale is ending." "Thank you for coming and participating in these long hours." "Each recipient will hold an individual press conference." "Ms. Kusama's press conference will be held in D-1." "I am Yoyoi Kusama, avant-garde artist." "Thank you for coming." "Congratulations on the award." "As compared to mountain climbing, what stage are you at now?" "What stage am I now?" "Looking up, it's endless, I think." "There are so many things I want to do so I want a life of 300 or 400 years." "Do you mean you think that you haven't done even half of what you want?" "On the top of one mountain I want to put on another mountain." "I want the mountain to rise higher." "I'll be the first one to run up there." "You've been creating not just pictures but also novels." "You are an artist with a wide palate." "Do you get inspired or moved by reading other writers' works?" "Well..." "I didn't understand." "What did you say?" "She was asking whether you have been moved by reading others' books, written by other writers or some other artists?" "I have no interest in other's books, but my books..." ""The Burning of St. Mark's Church,"" ""Between Heaven and Earth," "Hustlers Grotto of Christopher Street."" "At my age, I'm finally at the point where..." "I feel like I can move the world." "I'm deeply impressed by that." "Where is Yoko?" "I'm here." "Shall I get a car for you?" "My legs don't move well." "Maybe I should use a wheelchair..." "Would you think it's undignified?" "What do you think?" "I can walk here or at the hospital... but in front of people my legs get stiff." "Even though you feel the pain in your legs, you hesitate to use a wheelchair." "So you have a clear image of how you want to present yourself." "Right." "I think..." "I don't want people to say that she's got old and ended up unable to walk." "I have to hang in there." "So that would be a problem, me in a wheelchair." "The winner in the architecture category, Mr. Frei Otto of Germany." "The winner in the sculpture category, Mr. Christian Boltanski of France." "The winner in the painting category, Ms. Yayoi Kusama of Japan." ""Resplendent Road"" "The flowering Shinano Road is filled with the scent of spring." "I walked a long rugged path of the world of people, always hungry with so little to eat." "Besides, I worked my way through school and now I've reached where I am today." "Always placed in a miserable environment since childhood, how many times did I contemplate suicide?" "Each time I did, against my cheek wet with tears, chilly wind from the Shinano Road blew." "In the shadow of deep loneliness, on the river bank," "I walked back and forth." "This emptiness of my heart." "After thinking hard taking up brush and paint, on ever whiter papers," "I paint the whiteness of the sky to my heart's content." "The whites are clouds." "The whites are clouds." "Before I knew it, I had been immersed in a life of hardship." "As the years went by, without my knowledge..." "I have been made an idol of this world, and become one from whom many people now seek the joy of art." "The wheel of fate is turning around me and I am now surrounded by worldly, glorious honors, bouquets and applause." "What a surprise it is!" "And I have received a number of prizes and gold medals, too." "Nothing given offers satisfaction." "I have spent my life being far from attaining enlightenment." "Unable to sleep at night, I end up thinking about death." "During these long years since childhood, suddenly I realize, in the path of my life, that I am facing death." "Having grown old, my black hair turning white, the path to truth has withered and turned gray." "Forsaking the fame, am I to wander into the other world all by myself?" "The moment is imminent." "Then, love, future and the flowering Shinano Road, will have been dyed gray." "Good-bye, my life." "Fly away into the sky!" "This poem is wonderful." "I've never heard one like this." "I love everything that I have done." "This poem just came down to me all at once." "There's the work of a genius, in everything I do." "Back then, did you think of yourself as a genius?" "Yes I did, even more strongly." "Maybe I should start working." "I haven't seen a poem this wonderful, ever." "Nobody can write a poem like this since nobody has had a life like mine." "I just spoke about myself and it happened to be a poem after all." ""Red Pumpkin"" "The "red light" of the sun I've searched for, going to the end of the universe, has metamorphosed into a red pumpkin in the sea of Naoshima." "The pumpkin is empty inside and has many holes on the surface." "People who entered the pumpkin... breathed in the seascape from inside, to their hearts content." "Its eternal stillness has dyed my inner feelings deep red." "In the momentary brilliance of the soul, I will enwrap the whole of my life." "And my desire for life and death as a living person continues forever." "Death will be no escape from the dust of this people 's world, red pumpkin." "The red pumpkin swallows up everything about my life." "My red, red, red pumpkin." "How I adore you!" "Along the shores of Naoshima, with all my might," "I submerged the color red of the pumpkin into the lapping waves." "Only then, did the prototype of my love come back to life again." "This way, please." "Hello." "Nice to meet you." "Get a chair for Ms. Kusama, please." "Is this the place?" "This is the rehearsal room." "Takeshi will sit in front of you, so put them on him please." "Do I say something?" "You don't need to." "Please, take your position in line at the end." "It's time to dance." "Would you mind dancing?" "You can dance any way you want." "Music, fade out please." "So something like this?" "Yes and this is the end." "Excuse me." "Nice to meet you." "Hello." "Nice to meet you." "You look gorgeous as usual." "Honor to meet you." "And you." "Could you come in here, please?" "Mr. Murakami, will you please?" "Ms." "Kusama, an honor to work with you." "The honor is mine." "Shall we go?" "Okay, let's go." "Ms. Kusama, have you seen Takeshi's comedy act before?" "No, I haven't." "No problem." "You're Yayoi Kusama, the artist of the world." "How was it?" "It was beautiful." "Thank you very much." "How was Mr. Takeshi?" "He was a very nice man." "He's so young that I can't believe he's in his 60's." "At the most maybe 50." "So, is Beat Takeshi's comedy act funny?" "There was a Takeshi boom for a while." "I see." "Thank you." "Thanks." "Thank you everybody, bye." "Taka, will you take her to the room?" "Thank you for today." "See you on Monday." "Will you wake me up Monday?" "I will." "Hello." "Thank you." "So 44 drawings have been done." "Is this one the 44th?" "No. 44 are already done." "So you are working on the 45th now." "So this is 45th." "Right, working on #45." "After this, still 5 more to go to finish this project." "How about putting the date to avoid confusion?" "What's the date today?" "It's your birthday, March 22." "You say this but there aren't any flowers from you." "Happy birthday!" "Thank you so much." "I'm sorry." "I didn't bring a gift." "It's okay." "Have a tissue." "I'll consider this as a gift." "Don't tell anyone it's my birthday." "Why not?" "Because this studio staff will give me gifts, I think." "Probably, there will be a surprise later." "So, don't talk about it." "Let's keep it a secret." "But so many flowers came." "Right." "Lots of them." "Twenty-what?" "March 22nd." "Oh, the 22nd." "I have to do my best today." "Is there a special meaning in the eyes that you draw?" "The eyes?" "The shape is interesting." "They have an interesting balance." "Eyes are beautiful." "Noses are also great and lips too." "When I'm looking at a canvas, I feel better." "In front of a canvas, do you feel like you're gaining energy?" "I do." "Energy is streaming out endlessly when I am drawing." "I've suffered from deep depression." "I've tried to commit suicide recently." "What kind of condition do you get in when you're depressed?" "I can't eat and I can't sleep." "I just want to commit suicide." "It's a total mess." "When I was a child, I tried to commit suicide." "Around the age of 15." "After all, my father..." "He was taken into Mom's family and played around just after marrying." "He bought a lady's freedom with Mom's money and they ran away to Tokyo." "One day, he came back and... he started calling out in the backyard." "Mom heard his voice so she looked outside." "It was snowing heavily and she saw him coughing up blood onto the snow." "Mom said, "You can't come back, go to your parents."" ""We are not be able to take care of your problems."" "He begged Mom, "Forgive me, forgive me."" "Then he came back and stayed in bed." "Mom nursed him for a decade." "When he recovered, I wasn't a small kid anymore." "Then he started leading a fast life again, worse than before." "Mom told me, "Follow Dad, he's going to see his mistress."" "That meant I had to go to the red-light district." ""Excuse me, I'm Nakatsutaya." "Is my father here?" I said." ""This isn't a place for a kid to be." "Get out of here," I was told." "Dad knew I was following him, going to see his mistress' or that kind of house." "But Dad always eluded me." "One day, I was crying and on my way home..." "I ended up waiting for a train somewhere by a railway track." "I wanted to jump." "A train came, so I jumped." "But the air pressure was too strong for a kid." "I was blown back and I hit my head on a tree." "When I got home, Mom told me, "Dad eluded you?" "You're so stupid."" "I had to follow him every night carrying a lantern." "Mom didn't want any staff to do it because of the shame." "So it was my job." "If I did it, it didn't look so bad." "So Mom always used me for that kind of stuff." "I tried to commit suicide because my home was a total mess." "So I had nothing but painting." "But that made Mom mad." ""Painting again?" "Do something else."" "And she kicked the paint dishes and threw my paintings... a picture of onions that I spent a month painting and a picture of a cat at night." "She kicked me in the rear." "Do you know what happened then?" "The paint plates fell onto the floor and the colors went all over the place." "It was not the place for me to paint because Mom got instantly hysterical." "And she kept saying, "I feel so anxious." "I can't sleep at all."" ""My heart is beating so fast." She kept saying that all the time." "So I became like her." "I told the doctor "my heart beats so fast" and..." "I was told that I was imitating Mom." "Naho, it's time for you to help me." "Okay." "Here I am." "Should I hold this canvas up?" "Please." "I want to draw this part." "Let me hold it as usual, I think that's the best way..." "Ms. Matsumoto told me it was done in an hour... what?" "1 hour and 15 minutes." "Isn't that great?" "She flattered me generously." "You did a good job." "Right, even with her here." "May I?" "Go ahead." "Okay..." "You made it thicker yesterday." "It's better." "Come here and look." "Ms. Kusama, hello." "I have a headache and I'm tired today." "I'm trying to concentrate on my work, but you come so often." "That interrupts my thinking and affects my art." "Why don't you have some tea over here?" "I understand." "I just can't concentrate on my drawings." "When drawing this, I couldn't concentrate." "I understand." "So it's better this way, isn't it?" "Will you serve some tea?" "Okay." "I'll make some." "Ms." "Matsumoto, you can shoot now." "Thank you." "Now I have a basic image of this one." "Is this the right side?" "This is fine." "As it is?" "Yes." "Can you bring it here?" "I'm done." "Okay." "How do you pronounce that?" ""Shou Rou Byou Shi."" "What does that mean?" "What?" "What does that mean?" "It's fine if you don't know." "Will you not talk to me?" "I don't feel well." ""Shou Rou Byou Shi" "Shou" means living." ""Rou" means aging." ""Byou"is sickness. "Shi" is death." "Just enough space?" "Barely fits." "Good I can draw here." "At hospital, I need nurses to help me." "It's a bigger problem there to move a piece." "Do the nurses help your work too?" "Yes, they do help me." "They must be impressed with your work." "When they see my work they say, "Gorgeous, great!"" "The other day, I finished a piece there." "So many nurses were swarming around." ""Hey, Ms. Kusama's drawing is done." "Come and take a look."" "They keep coming to see my drawings." "They're all going to be lined up." "Sounds great!" "You're getting there." "I am." "But I'm so sleepy." "Must be tired." "You should go to bed earlier." "Right." "I'll finish this one tomorrow." "That means 49 pieces will be done." "So this is the 48th." "No, the 48th is over there." "Is that all?" "Yes, this is the 49th." "Wow, I can't wait." "Me neither." "When it's done, I'll sleep a whole day." "Will you sleep that long?" "I will." "This is almost done." "Yes, it's almost done." "It was a tough project." "Next life, no painting." "Such a waste of talent." "What will you be if you are reborn?" "A painter." "Still a painter." "Even knowing how tough it'll be?" "I'll paint." "What do you think you were in your past life?" "Even then I was a painter." "Do you think that for you painting is the only way to live?" "The only way for me." "If I live until 100 and much longer, I'll keep making a lot of pictures." "And she will make a bigger profit." "You'll make a living selling my works." "Oh, please don't say that." "I know you're waiting for me to die and leave lots of works." "What are you saying?" "They are all waiting." "I know, I know." "We're not like that." "Please sell them at a very high price." "Okay?" "Will you stand it up?" "It became an interesting picture." "Can you put it back there?" "It looks great." "What do you think?" "Isn't this one the most interesting?" "Ms." "Kusama, this is very nice." "Isn't it?" "Can you bring Takakura here?" "Right away." "Will you get the white canvas for me?" "On this table." "Naho, can you come here please?" "I'm coming." "Will you get a canvas, the white one?" "Do you mean the 50th one or a brand new one?" "Which do you prefer?" "I want the 50th one." "I see, the 50th one." "Oops, you want the 50th one, right?" "I want the 50th." "50th, 50th, here." "I found it." "Are you trying to make me do 51?" "Oh, you didn't fall for the trick." "This is the one." "Put your hand lower." "I should've thought about this earlier." "What is this, here?" "The man from Washington gave it to you." "Oh, right." ""This Mystery"" "One after another, flows out my imagination, on rainy days, fair days and snowy days." "Why do these days continue uninterruptedly in my life?" "Now I am at a loss as to how to answer questions about this mystery." "The mountains are getting higher and the sky is becoming ever bluer." "In this universe, I am never alone." "My pursuit of art goes way beyond me, surrounding the whole earth like clouds." "It is a quiet day, too, today." "Lest my love burns out, I want to embrace the love of all the people." "Love forever." "So determined, I run to the edge of a lake." "Its water ever so deep, blue and clear, touches my heart." "What does "living" truly mean?" "I lose myself in this thought every time I create artwork." "Holding my hands firmly, and smashing the emptiness of my heart, though I want to climb up to the summit of life, how mysterious everything is." "I know I should simply run and run through its course." "I will discard every mystery!" "Good-bye, my mysteries." "Wait a minute." "I'm thinking now." "Will you leave me alone?" "I can't concentrate." "Oh, you're crying." "When I focus too much on one part." "It must be my glasses." "You know, eye strength..." "Eye pressure." "Eye pressure?" "I'm really using my eyes a lot." "Tears keep coming out." "It must be eye pressure." "This is it." "Is it done?" "I'm exhausted." "Thank you for your hard work." "Let's stand it up and see it." "Wow, what a great picture!" "It is, indeed." "I'm tired." "Will you?" "You worked very hard on such tiny eyes in the middle." "This is great." "Thank you for your hard work." "Cheers." "Ms. Kusama, congratulations on finishing the 50 drawings!" "Everyone, have some." "This Korean seaweed is good." "I will." "Thank you." "Here, Korean seaweed." "Thank you." "I will." "How do you feel finishing all 50?" "Feeling relieved." "So you're feeling relieved." "I feel relieved." "It's great that you can create such great work in your later years." "What?" "In your later years, you still create such great work..." "Oh, really?" "Am I in my "later years?"" "What do you think?" "I guess so." "5 or 6 years from now, I'll be there." "You're not there yet then." "Not now." "Not yet." "I'm so happy to have created such great pieces." "Thank you for helping." "Thank you, everybody." "I really appreciate you, canvases and paints." "Thank you so much for your support."