Yoko Ono

My Artist: Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono was born in February 18, 1933. She is a Japanese artist, musician, and author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon. Ono brought feminism to the forefront through her music which prefigured New Wave music. She is a supporter of gay rights and is known for her philanthropic contributions to the arts, peace and AIDS outreach programs. Ono was an explorer of conceptual art and performance art. Ono had ordeal life since she was young. First, she is daughter of a Japanese pianist who gave up his career to marry into money. In 1945, her mother either suspected or was warned that America would bomb Tokyo, and took the family to safety far from the city before the bombs began falling. Ono married composer and pianist Toshi Ichiyanagi, and then attempted suicide. At the mental hospital she met jazz musician Anthony Cox, and when she discovered she was carrying his child she divorced Ichiyanagi and married Cox, but he had mood swings wilder than Ono's and she promptly had the marriage annulled. Cox apologized, and Ono was pregnant, so they remarried before their daughter was born. By the mid-1960s their new family was living in New York, where Ono dabbled in music, performance art, short films, and performance art like "Cut Piece," wherein audience members were given scissors and invited to cut away her clothing. In 1969 she divorced with Cox then remarried with John Lennon, the member of Beatles. As I was researching I noticed that she had challenge life. One of her work called “cut piece” is very famous performance art she have done in the year of 1965. She would sit impassively, a kind of bodhisattva, while people slowly cut off her clothes. It was an amazing feminist manifesto before most people knew what feminism was.
http://youtu.be/Zfe2qhI5Ix4
What interested in me was few of her message that were hidden unless anyone could recognize the message. The message were such as, “look at youself in the water you are beautiful”, “breath”, “don’t stop”, and “I love you.” This entire message can mean differently regarding on how audience accept and understand. It may be given comfort or love or even a peace… restfulness… I like the idea where she writes her message in anywhere, so the audience can look at or find out unexpectedly.
http://eunicelee.tistory.com/236
overall, her work was very interesting to me. her work is very simple but have strong point and powerful meaning. also, I like the idea when she asked audience to come over to the stage and be part of her performance art during the "cut piece".