Three Things #7

Reasons to visit Yoko Ono: Music for the Mind

I was a bit wary of visiting the Yoko Ono retrospective at Tate Modern, having had preconceived ideas about her work and being the kind of art lover who prefers to admire work from a distance rather than getting up close and involved. I didn’t love it all but I discovered a far more generous and engaging artist than I expected and I found the exhibition hugely absorbing and very moving.

1. Cut Piece (1964) is a pivotal piece of performance art which I had never seen. Ono sits motionless on a stage while audience members use scissors to cut away pieces of her clothing.

   

2. Add Colour (Refugee Boat) (2024) is one of her most recent works and is a participatory piece in which visitors are invited to contribute their hopes. Starting with an empty white space, it is now almost entirely blue, as she directed.

   

3. Wish Tree (2024) has been repeated all over the world in all kinds of forms but it still has her heartfelt earnestness at the centre of it which gives it power, as visitors share their hopes and dreams. “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

   

   One more thing… entirely unrelated, but I’ve just started watching Ripley on Netflix and I’m giving it a Hard Recommend. Shot in black and white and starring the magnificent Andrew Scott, it’s much darker than the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley and is all the better (and closer to Patricia Highsmith’s book) for it.