Yayoi Kusama has not left the building.

The famous installation artist’s Infinity Room exhibit last year at the AGO caused a ticketing frenzy, lineups and filled up Instagram with images as Toronto art fans couldn’t get enough of the experience. Now, her work is back and a part of the permanent collection of the institution. This time though, rather than multiple rooms, it’s just one. Infinity Mirrored Room — Let’s Survive Forever is now set up and ready for patrons to take a look — although it’s not quite open to the general public just yet.

According to Adelina Vlas, the AGO’s Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, who oversaw last year’s exhibit, and the installation of this room, this work is representative of much of Kusama’s practice, but also is indicative of the modern artist’s own story.

“I think with (the title) Let’s Survive Forever, it is an invitation to the impossible, but at the same time, it’s a testament to her story,” explains Vlas. “She’s an artist who disappeared and came back, and thrived, in spite of circumstances that were really challenging. And I think it’s her way of saying ‘I survived, and I continue to survive, and I will live eternally because I have created a vision that I have shared with the world. And the world has welcomed that invitation into my world’.”

It is very clear that the world — and this city — wants to see and experience more of her work, and that’s best shown by how this interactive piece of artwork came to the Gallery. The AGO led a crowd funding campaign, with more than 4,700 donors, who contributed $651,183 of the $1.3 million of the piece’s cost. The AGO says it is the first contemporary artwork in Canada acquired through a major crowdfunding campaign, and much of the final funding came from the David Yuile and Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund, which is controlled by the AGO Foundation.

Those donors get first crack at checking out the room — it’s open to them now, which will then be followed by access for the 100,000 AGO members starting April 23. The Infinity Room opens up for the general public on May 25.

As it is a permanent exhibit, access will be a part of a general admission ticket, although depending on how busy it is, patrons may have to sign up for a time slot to see the room. Gallery organizers expect it to be busy when it does open up, but likely to calm down after the initial crush.

Created in 2017, this is Canada’s first permanent Infinity Room; the mirrored wall space also features circular stainless steel balls and a column that provides a prismatic reflective view. While last year’s Kusama exhibit took place on the 4the and 5the floors or the AGO, Let’s Survive Forever has a prime spot in the Signy Eaton Gallery at the end of the Galleria Italia, the light-filled, wood beamed walkway that runs along the front of the AGO.

“We know from experience from other institutions who have acquired these works and have put them on display permanently, initially there is a lot of interest and you have to be prepared for that interest to manifest itself in a large number of people wanting to visit,” said Vlas. “In time, it was become like the Moore Centre at the other end of the Galleria Italia, just another space where you come to spend time, but it will be a signature installation, and I think visitors will return to spend time in it.”

There are a few rules that patrons should know. There are no bags allowed into the room. Up to four people at a time will be allowed in at once, and they will have a 1 minute time limit to snap that perfect Instagram shot, a platform which, despite being 90, the artist is very aware of.

“She’s not on Instagram herself, but I think she understands this. In the ’60s, she made Narcissus Garden, (a precursor piece, where she displays mirrored balls, with the idea “narcissism is for sale”) so she is very aware of those impulses,” says Vlas. “We are in a new era, and she sees it, particularly in the art world … she’s very much aware as humans, we are a blend of greatness and weaknesses, and this desire to have our image reflected, taken and circulated is something that is exacerbated by social media, but it’s always been there, she’s just decided to focus on it.”