Untitled Document

YOKO ONO
by artsy staff

For this interview we asked Yoko to fill in the blanks. Her answers are written in bold italics.

Take one Japanese non-conformist woman who is considered: an
Asian, a woman and a widow, who doesn't know her place-at all by many people. Add a musical note and a career filled with mountains, trees and skies. Mix with Fluxian thought, Beatles, Art, Creativity and struggles with a warped mirror. Simmer your memories until they become diamonds. Notice that they are now diamonds, not your memories.

These days I am enjoying my aloneness. Lately I have been focusing
on my new work for the Viennese show in October. The last show I
caught was My Mommy Was Beautiful, my show at the Shoshanna-Wayne Gallery. I thought it was exactly as I had planned it to be. I hate it when critics don't do their homework and get vicious out of ignorance. This morning I had coffee for breakfast. My latest projects are in my head. My influences are what I eat and/or what I've eaten. Sometimes I wish Sean would play chess with me on QEII across the Atlantic, drink hot chocolate with me on the Eiffel Tower, and imagine letting a goldfish swim across the sky.

Does avant-garde still exist? What do you anticipate to be the next art movement? I don't think of art in terms of movements. Men have money, they use it to buy art. Feminist art is difficult to sell since men can't identify with it. Can a woman create feminist art that can appeal to men? Just like all different types of women are appealing to men, men are attracted to all kinds of art. Women have money, too. It depends on what you wish to prioritize in terms of your purchase. I also think that art can affect and inspire people without being purchased. Anyway, I don't know that we were creating artwork to appeal to men. If that's what we want to do, it's quicker and more effective to show our tits.

Do people's reactions to your work surprise you?
It's nice, but it's not surprising.

What were some of your initial impressions of American culture? NY art world? How have they changed?
I was part of the American culture, like most of us in the art world. Since I was also part of the NY art world, it's hard for me to have any objective impression of it. The art world hasn't changed much. The vast change happened in people's understanding of it.

Do you ever find anyone's artistic expression offensive? What's offensive to you?
I'm offended by artists who create works only for their monetary values. But still, that's my artistic snobbery. I accept anything in the Peace Industry which art is part of. What is most offensive is the War Industry and the people who make money off it.

In order to accomplish things that artists with names and reputations cannot, do you ever wish you worked anonymously?
I have worked anonymously. I still do when it's necessary.

Often viewers and collectors feel that art is supposed to be serious, not humorous in order to be considered "high art". What do you consider "high art" and "low art"?

What are your favorite web sites?
I don't have one.

What makes you get out of bed every morning?
Work.

If you were a lamp, you kind of lamp would you be?
The one that works.

Any views on music? Current events? Politics?
I don't have views. I create my own music, do my share of leading a relatively peaceful life and despise establishment politics.

If you could give the world a lecture on one subject, what would it be?
Love and its magical power.

Which birth was more painful? Kyoko or Sean?
Both.

What would you be doing if you had not become an artist?
A stripper?