Yoko Ono, a Japanese woman with multi titles.
She is a peace activist, a performance artist,
an avant-garde musician and probably her most
famous title: the wife of John Lennon. She was
born in Japan and was raised in the countryside
to avoid World War II. Poverty and hunger are
the base tone of her childhood. She recalls it as
follows: “Lying on our backs, looking up at the
sky through an opening in the roof, we exchanged
menus in the air and used our powers of imagination
to survive.” Hence sky becomes a common element
that you can see in a lot of her works, including the
latest installation PEACE is POWER (2019). This
installation is located in the second floor hallway at
MoMA which the space is covered with blue sky
wallpaper. The title of the work is being translated
into 24 languages and appears across the window of
the hallway. Ono’s handwriting “ yes, yes, yes” is
being printed on furniture in that space as well. The
message is clear, straight-forward and across the
boundaries of different cultures.
Ono’s childhood significantly influenced her. Her
belief in peace, positivity and unity are values that
are lacking in the time when she grew up, as well
as in the current world. In her early performance
work Cut Piece (1964), Ono set along on the stage
with her finest clothes with a pair of scissors in front
of her. Audiences were instructed to cut a small piece
of fabric from her clothes. At first, people did it hesitantly,
only cutting pieces from the sleeve or the hem of her skirt.
Later, people approached boldly and even cut the strap of
her bra. As the action of the audience got more aggressive,
she remained motionless and expressionless throughout.
Her inaction is an expression of ultimate kindness and
bravery. The work is a statement of pacifism and positivity
as it is in line with the civil rights movement.
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