Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama, about whom I’ve written often, has been all over the design blogs lately with the launch of her line of skateboards, sold exclusively at the Museum of Modern Art Design Store in New York. When I first saw the image of one without any copy, I thought: How swell: Yayoi Kusama BANDAIDS, an idea made even more poignant and meaningful by Kusama’s practice of art medicine.
I am a woman who mistook a Yayoi Kusama skateboard for a bandaid. (Mistaking one thing for another has often led to interesting ideas. A photo of a marshamallow on a stick led to a vision of using a branch as a toilet paper holder.)
I find patterned bandaids wonderful to wear for the hell of it, as a surprising fashion element that can occasionally also hide some secretly-perceived bit of body ugliness (Yes, some parts of ourselves can actually be kind of ugly…That doesn’t mean WE are.) But bandaids with seriously-good design are hard to come by, as bandaids are considered the realm of kids, a serious oversight. So mostly I make do with just-ok animal print bandaids.
Yayoi Kusama bandaids. How cool would that be?
Of course, a smart marketing person could take the idea of art medicine a step further…
I’m sixty years old and can remember wearing a red and white polka dot bandaid on my leg when I was about 3. It looked almost identical to the first image.
How GREAT!!! Thank you for that memory!
I love bandaids. I have Hello Kitty ones, and Cat in the Hat ones. I love to get a small booboo so I can put one on! I’m 70 yrs young. Yayoi’s designs are beautiful & fun!
hi sally –
not quite yayoi kusama, but have you seen these from the moma?
https://store.moma.org/moma-exclusives/yoshitomo-nara-bandages/122882-122882.html?cgid=moma-exclusives
Seems like bandages would be fun to improvise with. When you have a little time, decorate some bandages to have on hand for the next time you need one. Try drawing on some plain bandages with sharpie markers. Or embellish the bandaid with washi tape and stickers. Next time you have to make a phone call where you expect to be on hold for an extended time, set yourself up with markers and bandages before you dial. Then, doodle away as you wait.
Love your ideas, and am thinking patterned washi tape could be a pretty, breathable overlay for ordinary bandages…
Ha. I’m with you Bo!
I keep picturing a round bandaid with googly eyes stuck to it. What fun! Draw on a smile and you have an emoji. A fun reminder to smile and be happy.