Apple, 1966
Apple, acrylic pedestal with brass plaque
Engraved: APPLE
These are some of the first artworks Ono created using ready-made objects. Forget It is an upright sewing needle placed on a plinth. Ono claimed, ‘Once I give the instruction, “Forget It”, you can never forget it. Eternal Time includes a ticking clock without an hour hand, and a stethoscope, which was originally used to listen to the never-ending sound of time passing.
For £200, the buyer of Apple could experience the ‘excitement of watching the apple decay’. John Lennon visited the exhibition the day before it opened and met Ono after taking a bite out of Apple, although this was not the intention of the work.*
From the exhibition
Yoko Ono Music of the Mind
(February – September 2024)
Yoko Ono is a trailblazer of early conceptual and participatory art, film and performance, a celebrated musician, and a formidable campaigner for world peace. Developing her practice in the United States, Japan and the UK, ideas are central to her art, often expressed in poetic, humorous, profound and radical ways.
Spanning more than seven decades, YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND is the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating key moments in Ono’s groundbreaking, influential and multidisciplinary career, from the mid-1950s to now – including her years in London where she met her future husband and longtime collaborator John Lennon.
The show traces the development of her practice and explores some of Ono’s most talked about and powerful artworks and performances. This includes Cut Piece (1964), where people were invited to cut off her clothing, to her banned Film No.4 (Bottoms) (1966-67) which she created as a ‘petition for peace’. Visitors are invited to take part in both simple acts of the imagination and active encounters with Ono’s works, such as Wish Trees for London, where visitors can contribute personal wishes for peace.
Audiences will discover over 200 works including instruction pieces, scores, installations, films, music and photography. The exhibition reveals a groundbreaking approach to language, art and participation that continues to speak to the present moment.
[*Tate Modern]
Taken in the Tate Modern
Apple, 1966
Apple, acrylic pedestal with brass plaque
Engraved: APPLE
These are some of the first artworks Ono created using ready-made objects. Forget It is an upright sewing needle placed on a plinth. Ono claimed, ‘Once I give the instruction, “Forget It”, you can never forget it. Eternal Time includes a ticking clock without an hour hand, and a stethoscope, which was originally used to listen to the never-ending sound of time passing.
For £200, the buyer of Apple could experience the ‘excitement of watching the apple decay’. John Lennon visited the exhibition the day before it opened and met Ono after taking a bite out of Apple, although this was not the intention of the work.*
From the exhibition
Yoko Ono Music of the Mind
(February – September 2024)
Yoko Ono is a trailblazer of early conceptual and participatory art, film and performance, a celebrated musician, and a formidable campaigner for world peace. Developing her practice in the United States, Japan and the UK, ideas are central to her art, often expressed in poetic, humorous, profound and radical ways.
Spanning more than seven decades, YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND is the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating key moments in Ono’s groundbreaking, influential and multidisciplinary career, from the mid-1950s to now – including her years in London where she met her future husband and longtime collaborator John Lennon.
The show traces the development of her practice and explores some of Ono’s most talked about and powerful artworks and performances. This includes Cut Piece (1964), where people were invited to cut off her clothing, to her banned Film No.4 (Bottoms) (1966-67) which she created as a ‘petition for peace’. Visitors are invited to take part in both simple acts of the imagination and active encounters with Ono’s works, such as Wish Trees for London, where visitors can contribute personal wishes for peace.
Audiences will discover over 200 works including instruction pieces, scores, installations, films, music and photography. The exhibition reveals a groundbreaking approach to language, art and participation that continues to speak to the present moment.
[*Tate Modern]
Taken in the Tate Modern