I really enjoyed lecture on Tuesday. Jean Bridge explored many different artists who have been changing the way we look at art by doing innovative things that no one has ever done before. One artist I wanted to discuss further is Yoko Ono. The artwork that Yoko made in the early 1960’s required the viewer to become apart of the process. She made a series of works called “Instruction Paintings”. These pieces consisted of a set of instructions, which were displayed on a wall just as paintings in a gallery would be. The piece we discussed in class was called ‘Cut Piece’. Audience members were invited up on stage to cut pieces of clothing off Yoko’s body. Audience members were left in control of the performance as Yoko left the process in the hands of complete strangers. I think this type of work not only questions the idea of authorship but the idea of the artist and the audience. These pieces require more then one person for the piece to be experienced. The artist becomes the artwork. Yoko put her body on display and allowed people to manipulate her instead of material objects. In doing this Yoko was trying to get people to think about art in new ways. Maybe she was trying to bring out the creativity in her audience by allowing them take on the role of the artist. Whatever her goal was she questioned the idea of authorship, which I believe, challenges the idea of art. Art and Artist have always been hand in hand, equal in importance. Yoko removes this element from her conceptual pieces, which makes them harder for people to understand them as art.

Yoko Ono, Painting to Hammer a Nail, 1966 (photo by: David Behl)

Another piece similar to Yoko’s ‘Cut piece’ would be ‘Painting to Hammer a Nail’. This piece allowed spectators to hammer a nail into a canvas anywhere or any way they chose to. This allowed the spectator to become the artist and to become apart of the work. Not only was the finished board of nails a collaborative piece of art but the very act of hammering a nail into the board became the art. ‘Ceiling Painting’ is another example of this type of work. The viewer is invited to climb a ladder. At the top of the ladder there is a magnifying glass attached by a chain hanging from the ceiling. The viewer is supposed to use the magnifying glass to read the painting hung on the ceiling only to find the word “Y E S.” In this piece the viewer is not actually contributing to the making of the piece but is taking part in it rather than merely viewing it from a distance. I like Yoko Ono’s work because she always tries to incorporate her viewers into her pieces. This type of interactive art does question authorship in a sense but I think in Yoko’s case her work is more about the process rather then the finished product. She develops an idea and then lets others take control.

“What I’m trying to do is make something happen by throwing a pebble into the water and creating ripples…I don’t want to control the ripples.”
-Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono, Ceiling Painting (YES Painting), 1966
Text on paper, glass, metal frame, metal chain, and painting ladder
Photo by: Oded Lobl

-Allison