YOKO ONO IMAGINES
Think Peace, Act Peace, Spread Peace
Anyone who has listened to an interview with artist, musician, writer and activist Yoko Ono has noticed the kindness in her voice and the optimism in the way she speaks. Not many artists can say they have accomplished nearly as much as she has while facing constant criticism due to reasons separate from her art and achievements. It’s outrageous that Ono is better known to the general public for her relationship with her late husband John Lennon than for her significant contributions to art, women’s empowerment and world peace. This artist truly deserves all the recognition she can get.
Yoko Ono Lennon (b. 1933, Tokyo, Japan) was born into a wealthy family and had a privileged upbringing, attending Tokyo’s Gakushūin school, one of the most elite and exclusive schools in Japan. That was until, following World War II and the Tokyo bombing of 1945, her family was left with virtually nothing. Ono remembers this challenging period with a lot of pain. In 1946, she was able to return to school and later, in 1951, became the first woman to enter the philosophy department at Gakushuin University. However, she dropped out after two terms and left Japan to join her family in New York, enrolling at Sarah Lawrence College. Several people who knew her at the time say that Ono was already an avant-garde student.
When Ono was making a name for herself, the general art scene of the 60s and 70s was entirely male-dominated (as it had always been). Ono became associated with the Fluxus movement. By 1960, she hosted performances and conceptual art pieces in her downtown Manhattan apartment and collaborated with other renowned artists. Something that has remained consistent in Ono’s work is that it is instructional and highly dependent on participation from the audience. Examples of these works are Painting to Be Stepped On (1960-61), Museum of Modern [F]art (1971), or her famous Cut Piece (1964). In that, she used scissors and instructed the audience to cut off part of her clothing. It was a monumental moment in Ono’s career as this was the work that acted as a social experiment. Each audience member interpreted the instructions and reacted differently, becoming a key element in completing the artwork. It was also when conceptual art was uncommon and highly misunderstood. Ono became a pioneer and one of the first to test the relationship between artist and viewer. This all happened while she endured constant criticism due to the general hostility towards performance art and disrespect was standard behavior towards influential female voices. When asked about how she felt during her first performance of Cut Piece, she recognized that it was uncomfortable, but knowing that it was something that needed to be done gave her comfort. It was just the beginning of a long and prolific career made up of uncomfortable but necessary works that were experimental. They were all actions that constituted a social commentary on themes of war, peace and women’s roles. Ono quickly became an essential figure in the New York avant-garde scene. In 1964 she published Grapefruit, a book made up of prompts and instructions aimed at creating an experience for the reader to complete that blurred the line between art and life.
Yoko Ono met John Lennon at her self-titled show at Indica Gallery in London. She was already an established artist and her confidence and positivity he perceived from her work Ceiling Painting drew Lennon to her instantly. They were both married but eventually divorced and married in 1969. It is when her life and career changed as she had to deal with accusations of breaking up the Beatles, stealing and changing John and inserting herself into his life for the benefit of her career. However, investigations into these claims reveal that by the time Yoko Ono appeared in John’s life, the Beatles were already close to breaking up. They were struggling to get along and dealing with a change in management. John was developing different interests outside of the band and she was his gateway into this new artistic and experimental lifestyle he craved.
Being thrown into the public eye did not necessarily benefit Ono. She was becoming too well-known and her career suffered as celebrity overshadowed her artistic identity. People were no longer showing up for her art, but for her and John. Nevertheless, she chose to use this new-found platform to introduce conceptual art and avant-garde strategies to a broader audience. Her work, initially for the arts community, was now having an impact on the general public. One practice that caused complete and utter outrage in the media was her Bed-Ins for Peace, which she performed with Lennon in Amsterdam and Montréal. The bed-ins were filmed and turned into a documentary, to serve as a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War. They sat in bed and invited the press in to meet with them. The objective was to use the coverage to promote world peace. It was also revealed later that Ono was mostly responsible for creating Lennon’s hit single “Imagine,” as most of the lyrics were inspired by Grapefruit. The couple continued to use their status to spread the message of peace until Lennon died in 1980. When looking back on her experiences, Yoko maintains her positive attitude and never speaks negatively of her life with John and how being in a relationship with him impacted her career.
At 87 years old, Yoko continues to create art, use her platform for activism, spread the message of peace and connect art and life. Examples of her more recent pieces are Wish Tree (1993-present), where she asks visitors to write their wishes on paper and hang it from a tree. She encourages reflection on the meaning of life; and Imagine Peace Tower (2007), where she buries the wishes from that work. She remains deeply self-reflective as an artist and when asked about past actions, she does question herself and her decisions. She has been a strong voice in a world that didn’t want to give her space and she managed to make an enormous impact. In interviews, she expresses pleasure in knowing that she has been able to inspire others. She also refuses to let any negative energy influence her life. In an interview for the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in 2007, Ono stated that she wants her two children, Sean and Kyoko, not to waste their time defending her when she’s gone: “Your mother had a great life and you should know that.” She ended that interview by stating that, “Each of us was born at this time to fulfill a mission. Together we are in a process of healing. Our work is not yet done but it will be done soon.”
This past week, the University of Liverpool honored Yoko Ono by naming its new teaching and performance center after her. She is an honorary graduate of the university as well as a long-standing philanthropic supporter.
Cut Piece is available now. Watch it below.
