Posted on 07/29/2023 8:51:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Despite being largely what she’s come to be known for, Yoko Ono’s relationship with John Lennon was a just fraction of her story.
Ono’s legacy as a pioneer of avant-gardist art was something others noticed about her early on. She knew that she was an outsider and that her tastes were ‘different’, but it wasn’t until after the Second World War ended that it became something she embraced “aggressively”.
After completing university as the first woman to ever enter the philosophy program at Gakushuin University, Ono moved to New York City, where she found herself in the throws of bohemianism after discovering the works of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg. Both inspired Ono’s sound to the point where she unknowingly became avant-gardist in her approach, with her school teacher telling her just that: “He said, ‘Well, look, there are people who are doing things like what you do, and they’re called avant-garde’,” Ono recalled.
Up to that point, Ono had merely been living in her own world of self-expression, but things changed when she realised that her radical status as an outsider could revolutionise the world. Soon the budding artist launched her Cut Piece exhibition in 1964. During this performance, she took centre stage, adorned in her finest suit. She held a pair of scissors in front of her, inviting the audience to become active participants in the artistic act, welcoming each individual to step forward, grasp the scissors, and sever a small piece of her clothing.
“When I do the Cut Piece, I get into a trance, and so I don’t feel too frightened,” she said. “We usually give something with a purpose…but I wanted to see what they would take…there was a long silence between one person coming up and the next person coming up. And I said it’s fantastic, beautiful music, you know? Ba-ba-ba-ba, cut! Ba-ba-ba-ba, cut! Beautiful poetry, actually,” she added.
Then, in 1966, she caught the attention of a musician going by the name of John Lennon with a minimalist but thought-provoking piece titled ‘Yes’. This piece included a ladder which, when climbed, held a magnifying glass at the top that revealed the word ‘Yes’ in small print etched to the ceiling. “There was another piece that really decided me for-or-against the artist: a ladder which led to a painting which was hung on the ceiling,” Lennon recalled when he first saw the work.
“It looked like a black canvas with a chain with a spyglass hanging on the end of it,” he added. “This was near the door when you went in. I climbed the ladder, you look through the spyglass and in tiny little letters it says ‘yes’. So it was positive. I felt relieved. It’s a great relief when you get up the ladder and you look through the spyglass and it doesn’t say ‘no’ or ‘fuck you’ or something, it said ‘yes’.”
At that moment in her life, Ono had recently gone through a divorce, and the incorporation of subtle hints of positivity into her art served as a poignant reflection of her outlook. Amidst the shadows of personal challenges, she chose to infuse her artistic expressions with delicate droplets of hope, showcasing her resilience and determination to embrace the brighter facets of life. However, at the time, such avant-gardist works were often looked upon by mainstream consumers as nothing more than pretence, but Ono’s ability to communicate such deep emotion via abstract ideas was something that resonated deeply with Lennon.
“I thought it was fantastic – I got the humour in her work immediately. I didn’t have to have much knowledge about avant-garde or underground art, the humour got me straight away,” Lennon said.
Simplistic beauty in the form of the smallest ideas is something that was shared by both of them – Ono, who proudly lived the adage “you change the world by being yourself”, exuded a particular allure that embraced the boundless realm of possibility for Lennon.
Together, they ventured into uncharted territories, pushing the boundaries of creative expression and challenging societal norms. Ono’s sense of self-empowerment and her pursuit of artistic freedom mirrored Lennon’s daring approach, resulting in a coupling that was both limitless in imagination and compatible with life’s realities.
As Ono once proclaimed, “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality”.
The toy industry may look like a lot of fun, but just like every money-making scheme, it’s a serious business. Capable of raking in billions in sales with the potential for a whole multimedia franchise, brands like Lego, Hot Wheels, Nerf, Barbie and Nintendo have ingrained themselves within the childhoods of millions of people across the globe, informing not only their formative years of development but also the wider world of pop culture.
Manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Barbie was a fashion doll and character created by businesswoman Ruth Handler in 1959. Unlike other toys of its kind on the market, Barbie was an adult doll made by Handler so that young girls had a more realistic and aspirational figurine that better represented what they actually wanted to be in the future.
Quickly catching on, the doll became a staple of Western childhoods, with countless variations of the toy being created that included different costumes, playhouses, pets, vehicles and much more. To date, Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, with the line of toys having a significant impact on social values in the late 20th century, with the rise of their popularity reflecting the independence and forthright nature of feminism during the same time.
As a result of their cultural value, Barbies have been referenced in each and every corner of pop culture, from the irritating shrill of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’, which was written as an expression of the kitsch art style, to Greta Gerwig’s recent Hollywood flick that ironically explores the corruption of consumerism in modern society.
Elsewhere, creatives from across the globe have also incorporated Barbie’s iconic visual style into their work, such as the contemporary German/Australian artist Freya Jobbins. Largely exploring personal themes of identity in modern society, Jobbins has used dismembered plastic parts of Barbie dolls throughout her work, assembling them in 3D mosaics to create stunning modern sculptures.
On her website, she states: “My work is based on appropriation, re-assemblage and subversion of pre-existent objects, where I continue to explore notions of identity, motifs and my own dissimulation”.
She isn’t alone in her use of such unique materials either, with Margaux Lange, an artist creating handmade and re-purposed wearable pieces, having something of an obsession with Barbie, the undisputed pop-culture icon. Crediting the doll with giving her the foundations for her own creativity and resourcefulness during her youth, Lange has earned international attention for her striking pieces that incorporate different dismembered Barbie body parts into necklaces, earrings, brooches and more.
An iconic toy that comes to represent the incessant rush of Western consumerism in the lead-up to the 21st century, as well as the debate over female beauty standards in the modern world, Barbies are far more significant than their sturdy plastic exterior suggests.
That was before my time but that right there is funny.
The beatles are scum and brought many souls to destruction.
I love them, and my soul is just fine. Lennon got his comeuppance when he went to far about YESHUA.
Starts at 9:58
The girls could not understand why I laughed so hard at this. :)
Neither you nor anyone can ever take them from us ...
bug off
Where did the paragraphs about Barbie come from?
"Throws" (e.g., "He threw the ball") and "throes" (uterine contractions) are entirely different words. They aren't even related etymologically.
Regards,
He must have been on some heavy drugs at the time .
I suddenly have new respect for Barbie’s talent and intellect.
Where did the paragraphs about Barbie come from?
—
Its from the story immediately below - someone copied too much text.
When I was a teen I worked for Loftcraft. It was owned by the church of scientology. We put in a white platform bed in an all white apartment with a white piano in an apartment on Sutton place. The rent was 2250 and the renters were Lennon and May Pang;-)
I remember groups warning of the danger of listening to Beatles music back in 1964, and how it affected the mind.
Protip: condescension is much more effective when you don’t misspell the word you’re trying to condescend about…
Or maybe did her one-man cooking show where she throws chocolate on John. She could have called it "La Coucina" or maybe "La Bosco." Hell, the Beatles might have toured for another thirty years!
:^D
When they went back to her place, she showed him the pencil she’d used to write “Grapefruit” (original title “Mackinaw peaches”), complete with her teeth marks.
Indeed child abuse
Throwing what—dwarves? THROES, Kelly Scanlon, THROES.
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