AT THE AGE OF 91, THE TATE MODERN IN LONDON HAS DEDICATED HER FIRST AND LARGEST RETROSPECTIVE, YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND, WITH MORE THAN 200 WORKS THAT TRACES HER 70 YEARS OF ARTISTIC PRACTICE FROM THE MID-50S TO THE PRESENT. Using time as a clue, she invites the audience to step into her legendary life through her musical scores, installations, films, music, and photography.
Although her name is not unfamiliar, and it can even be said that she is "famous", when we talk about her again, it is as difficult as it was back then. As Lennon said of Yoko Ono: "She is the most famous but least known artist in the world, everyone knows her name, but no one knows what she does." ”
She was a "priestess of the avant-garde", a "wicked witch", "the culprit who led to the dissolution of the Beatles", a "merchant who sold her dead husband", a "fearless anti-war fighter", an artist, a musician, a filmmaker, a poet, a philosopher, a writer, a pacifist, a cultural icon..... Her name has been infinitely complicated and infinitely flattened, and to this day, she is still difficult to define.
This retrospective brings together a number of interactive installations from her past life, including Refugee Boat, Into the Bag, White Chessboard, Shadow Fragments, and many more, which call for peace, want to connect, or express thoughts on collectivity...... Although the themes are different, these works have one thing in common, which is that they are all "instructions" from Yoko Ono to the audience.
Refugee Boat
Tate Modern, London
Yoko Ono
2024
Into the Bag
Tate Modern, London
Yoko Ono
2024
Shadow Fragments
Tate Modern, London
Yoko Ono
2024
As Ono's most distinctive approach, she likes to involve the audience in her "commands", such as her best-known performance work "Cut Piece," in which Yoko sits on the stage of Carnegie Hall in a black dress with her hair and invites the audience to come forward and cut her clothes with scissors.
"Slicing"
Yoko Ono
Carnegie Hall, New York
1964/65
"An artist's idea is an idea, like throwing a stone into the water and causing ripples. The idea is air or sunlight that anyone can use and fill themselves according to their body size and shape...... Instructions are what our institute transcends the existing concept of time and space, making the invisible world possible, and then sometimes, the instructions themselves disappear and are forgotten. ”
——Yoko Ono "Grapes"
In the last section of the exhibition, instead of shouting "love and peace" with fierce artistic expression, as expected, she returns to the individual and focuses on the role of "mother".
As a mother and as a daughter, she did not respond directly to her own understanding of the relationship between mothers and children, as well as her understanding of motherhood, but retreated behind the audience and threw an open-ended proposition essay to everyone.
The Guardian once asked Yoko Ono in an interview with her, "Who would you most like to say sorry to, and why?" Yoko replied, "My mother." I didn't tell her I loved her as I should. “
John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their two children, Julian and Kyoko
John Lennon, Yoko Ono and son Sean
A FOUR-WORD INSTRUCTION, "MY MOMMY IS BEAUTIFUL," INVITES THE AUDIENCE TO EXPRESS EACH PERSON'S MEMORIES OR THOUGHTS ABOUT THEIR MOTHER IN WORDS OR PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE PIECES OF PAPER SHE HAS PREPARED.
Here, small notes in various languages are plastered all over the room, each note is a parent-child relationship, and each expression is an intricate emotional puzzle.
Today is Mother's Day, when was the last time you wrote a letter to your mom? If you don't know how to speak, I hope you can find inspiration in Yoko Ono's work.
"Mom, I've grown up, I no longer need all the people to please, I really hope I can show you the scenery I've seen, I hope you are healthy and happy."
"It's sad that I never learned who you were."
"Mom, your love is not so much that I can say that I love you, nor is it so little that I hate you, I often think that I should use what I have learned to go back and pull you out, but the pain is whether this is the right thing to do, and whether it should be done, or is it a task that I have to accomplish as your daughter? We often keep our hearts shut about our families, but I sincerely wish you happiness and good health. ”
"I miss your love."
"You're not an easy mother to get along with, but you're worth it, and I always love you, Mom."
"You often say that if you don't care about being a mother, you can't experience the hard work of being a mother, I really know that you work hard, really. But Mom, I hope your world lives for you, free, brave, and happy without me. ”
"You've done your best."
"Mother: I hope you are independent of men, stop believing in home paradise, have a clear understanding of real estate, and don't expect me to get ahead. I hope my mother is happy. I love you though I live clumsy! ”
"I love Mommy, PICA!"
"Write to my favorite Mommy, the most loved person in the world and the person I love the most, thank Mommy for always supporting me unconditionally and giving me full of love. The happiest and most fortunate thing is to have you as my mother, to always be healthy, safe, happy, happy, long-lived, everything is fine, always be with me, all good things come true. At the same time, please be kind to yourself and love yourself more. ”
"We're fine."
"I want to be your daughter in the next life, or I will be your mother. We will all love ourselves more and be freer. ”
"Love Mom more than my PS4."
"Mother: Getting along with you has taught me to be tolerant. At the age of 24, I married in London. ”
"Mom: I'm living well on the other side of the world. Although he is not very rich, he is at least living a life that he likes very much. Thank you for understanding me and loving you. ”
"I love my mom, she gives me so much more than I want."
"Best mom."
Editor: Erlang On-site shooting: Zhang Dashuai Producer: Algae