A blog dedicated to Yoko Ono.
By Cara (thecurvature)
See also:
Fuck Yeah John & Yoko
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Post reblogged from Finding My Creative Side with 4 notes
Yoko Ono’s Pamplemousse - Critical Reflection
rachsjourneythruthecreativearts:
The extracts of Pamplemousse from Japanese-born, American Citizen Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit are challenging pieces of art. The French term Pamplemousse is an adopted word from the Dutch language which refers to the Tamil word bambolmas. A citrus fruit that has striking resemblance to that of a grapefruit, it is an allegory for the title of Ono’s 1964 piece.
Many of Ono’s works were associated with George Maciunas’ group Fluxus. A society composed of dada-inspired avant-garde artists; it was developed in the early 1960s. John Cage has been credited as one of Ono’s most important influences on her performance art. It was her connection with Ichiyanagi Toshi, a student of Cage’s exceptional lessons of experimental composition that would introduce Ono to the art forms of Cage and his protégés.
Ono’s poetry in Pamplemousse is considered to be instructions to the reader. They obviously cannot be taken literally but instead compel the reader to use their imagination to complete the commands given. Her technique crafts an original kind of imagery that triggers the mind to think in a new way. Ono’s guidelines are more complex than just telling the reader to, for example, run around in a circle. She uses active verbs to force the reader consider something unexpected. These unexpected images aren’t characterised by ornamental or lyrical language; they are solid, frank and simple.
Some aspects of Pamplemousse evoke your thoughts in a direction that you would not normally take when given the chance to read an abstract piece of literature. Ono’s Smell Piece I & II are perfect examples of this. Ono asks the reader to “Send the smell of the moon” (1953 autumn) or “Send a smell to the room.” (1962 winter) These two instructions are clearly impossible things to do, however it arouses a notion that maybe one day we will be able to send a smell to the moon. Others can act as a vessel of inspiration to view the world around you and to explore the world around you in a different light. Asking someone to “Draw a map to get lost” (1964 spring) sparks a contradiction in that maps are used to find yourself; short of taking a wrong turn and deviating from your map, one cannot get lost; although that may be what Ono is asking you to do. And other sections of the literature really makes you question Ono’s sanity; “Stir inside of your brains with a penis/Until things are mixed well/Take a walk.” (Walk Piece, 1961 winter)
Some of my beloved poems are those in which time is concerned, such as the multiple Clock Pieces. Ono say, in one of the finest metaphors from Pamplemousse, “Steal all the clocks and watches/In the world/Destroy them.” No one could possibly get their hands on all the clocks within the world and destroy them, but that particular image portrays eternal history. Of all the sunrises, sunsets, good and bad weather, human life, growth, death, and wisdom that has developed over time that time has experienced, Ono forces the reader to try and hear something that is often seen. Thus, Ono gives the reader adequate shape to direct their thinking but also allowing space for her words to be openly interpreted. Readers can effortlessly impose their knowledge of what something sounds like or what a particular action feels like.
Pamplemousse and Grapefruit for that matter, is perfect for people who enjoy collections that are highly stimulating to the senses but can’t stand traditional flowery poetry. Ono’s metaphors create the same types of imagery without delicate language. Still her poetry sounds lyrical because of the way in which readers can interpret it. Much can be learned from Yoko Ono’s approach to imagery.
Photo reblogged from with 31 notes
cmov:
yoko ono - echo telephone piece, from grapefruit
(going to start semi-regularly posting excerpts from grapefruit, which is a beautiful collection of her work. equal parts cheerful, hilarious, heartbreaking, and reflective.)
Link with 10 notes
“I was there. I saw it. It made me cry.” by Yoko Ono →
A letter from Yoko Ono, written while visiting Pennsylvania communities impacted by fracking.
After being invited to visit Pennsylvania by residents who have experienced the impacts of fracking, my son Sean and I decided to go see the harms of fracking up close. Our friend Susan Sarandon came with us, and we had the incredible honor of being joined by Mahatma Ghandi’s grandson, Arun Ghandi, as well. We also invited members of the media.Driving into the quaint town of Montrose, PA, I could hardly have anticipated how upsetting the next stops on our tour would be: a gas pad of four drills and a hissing pressure release, a giant compressor station under construction, large trucks full of sand and toxic chemicals rumbling down narrow dirt roads, and a drilling rig reaching to the sky.
To see such a beautiful landscape ruined was disturbing enough, but not nearly as bad as the heart-break of meeting those whose health, homes and lives have been forever changed because of fracking: Vera Scroggins, Craig Stevens, Rebecca Roter, Frank Finan, Ray Kemble and the Manning family. They welcomed us into their homes with complete hospitality, and Tammy Manning even baked us delicious muffins.
And they told us their stories. How they can no longer drink the water from their own wells because they have been poisoned by fracking pollution. These American families are suffering from suddenly not having clean water for the essentials of healthy living. They are not able to use their well water to drink, cook with, wash dishes, bathe or do laundry. They are buying water every day. Can you believe it?
They cannot move to a healthier place to raise their families because the value of their house plummeted when the water went bad — and they cannot afford to relocate. They have to open their windows when they run the water to prevent methane gas from building up and risk explosion. It is a terrible fate, and there is no way to reverse what has happened to them. And it is outrageous that the gas companies accuse these honorable, defenseless people of lying — we saw the brown smelly water ourselves in homes right next to fracking sites. The fact that the water was nasty brown around their houses really scared me.
I hope that Gov. Cuomo will take the same tour that I did before he makes any decisions about whether to allow fracking in New York. And though it is too late to stop the harm that has already come to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, I hope that Gov. Corbett of Pennsylvania will visit the same families and sites that I did, and stop the industry from running rough-shod over that beautiful state.
I urge President Obama to make that trip too and put aside any notion of depending on fracking instead of truly clean energy. As industry documents prove, these wells crack and leak, more and more over time. It cannot be prevented and once it happens, it cannot be fixed thousands of feet under the ground. Please, go see for yourselves.
It was a staggering realization that this is now happening in the USA… the country of power and wealth. Why is this national tragedy being kept quiet? Why aren’t any politicians doing anything about it? These families, on top of their terrible fate, are subjected to nasty rumours that they are not people to be believed. It is not only destroying their lives but their spirits as well. I was there. I saw it. It made me cry.
Love,
Yoko Ono
Friday 18 January, 2013
Dimock, Pennsylvania, USA.
Link with 1 note
Imagine NY Without Fracking by Yoko Ono →
Governor Cuomo, please don’t frack New York. Don’t allow our beautiful landscapes to be ruined, or our precious and famous clean water to be dirtied.
Your draft plan won’t allow fracking near New York City’s water supplies. But if it isn’t safe enough to be near New York City’s water, how can it be safe enough for rural communities, or the New York side of the Delaware Basin that feeds drinking water to Philadelphia?
No amount of regulation can keep these wells from leaking. Please stand up to the fossil fuel industry and save our water, our climate and our state. Let’s make New York the Clean Energy Empire State, not the state of dirty fracking.
Link with 14 notes
John Lennon's Last Days: A Remembrance by Yoko Ono →
The last weekend was very quiet. The sky was cloudy in a restful way. And the town seemed as though it was asleep.
Link with 3 notes
Forbes: Yoko Ono: I Feel Invisible →
Yoko Ono has an exquisite aptitude for noticing things.
The first time I saw her was on Mercer Street one evening as the light started to lean over the city. Strolling from my office, I saw a small figure in black hat and long coat walking toward me. I didn’t realize it was her until we stood only a few strides away, but as we passed she looked up and smiled warmly right at me.
That Ono met and held my gaze was all the more unusual in Manhattan, where it’s often considered rude. But she seemed utterly calm in that moment on the sidewalk, like a silent watcher eager to grab the smallest sliver of connection with another as she passed.
The same quality is apparent in her new book, An Invisible Flower, out now by Chimera Library. Ono illustrated this elegant tome in 1952, when she was 19 years old, but this is the first time it has been published. Sean Lennon found the pages of pastel chalk drawings and hand-written text it in a closet one day at home and finally prevailed upon his mum to allow its dissemination.
Photo with 5 notes
Iceland, August 2012: Imagine the Gobi Desert, and the whole desert covered with a velvety moss like this all the way. Well, that’s the Iceland I love. People just want to keep the land and its natural beauty without touching it, digging it, and building shoulder-to-shoulder skyscrapers. Businessmen of the world come here, look at the expansion of empty land to the horizon, and ask “Hey, could we?” and get a quick answer “No”. “That’s too bad, there’s a lot of money to be made, you know.” My heartbeat, used to big cities in the world, slows down and gives me rest in this field-after-field of shining nature. yoko #nofilter #iceland (via Photo by yokoonoofficial • Instagram)
Source: instagram.com
Quote reblogged from Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes with 8 notes
Cut out jackets or dress from acquired
paintings, such as Da Vinci, Raphael,
De Kooning. You may wear the painted
side in or out.
You may make underwears with them as well.
Quote reblogged from Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes with 6 notes
Hang a canvas on a wall.
Throw all the leftovers you have
in the kitchen that day on the
canvas.
You may prepare special food for
the piece.
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