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Yoko Ono Case Study - Research & Evaluation




Japanese artist, Yoko Ono was an influential practitioner of conceptual and performance art in the 1960s. Ono’s work is designed to redirect our attention to ideas, instead of physical appearances. With unprecedented radicalism, Ono challenged the notion that art should be a material object leading her to performance art. Ono noted in an interview in 1968 “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.” (Flanagan, M. 2009. Pg. 176) Ono’s work is designed so that anyone audience can appreciate the piece, each creating a crucial, yet individual, dimension to her works meaning.

One of Ono’s most famous performances, Cut Piece (Ono, Y. 1964) saw Ono cross traditional boundaries of art by inviting an audience to become part of the artwork itself. The performance constituted of Ono sitting alone on stage, with a pair of scissors in front of her. Audience members were instructed to approach Ono one by one and cut a small piece of her clothing, which they could then keep. The diversity of the audience exposed itself as each audience member joined her on stage. Some taking care to protect Ono’s modesty by cutting only small amounts of fabric, on the other hand some daring audience members cut larger sections of material in intimate areas, such as bra straps. Ono remained motionless without expression through the entirety of the performance, ending the performance at her own discretion. Ono sets the scene for the performance it is the audience’s participation that leads to the piece being created. Reflecting on the performance Ono states, “When I do the Cut Piece, I get into a trance, and so I don’t feel too frightened” (MoMA. no date) Ono has since reperformed Cut Piece (Ono, Y. 2003) in Paris in 2003. Ono describes the reperformance, stating in an interview that, “What I did in the 60s, innocent is what comes to my mind. The one that I did in 2003 looks like somebody who went through a shock.” (Ono, Y. 2012) Although the same performance they both resided different meanings which are indicated by the exact period in her life influenced by her life experiences.


                                                      Image result for cut piece




Research Used-
  • Ono, Y. (1964) Cut Piece [Performance] Yamaichi Concert Hall, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Ono, Y. (1995) Yoko Ono Instruction Paintings. Weatherhill, New York, America. 
  • Ono, Y. (2003) Cut Piece [Performance] Theatre Le Ranelagh, Paris, France. 
  • Ono, Y. (2012) Interviewed by Miranda Sawyer for BBC, The Culture Show, 3rd August 2012.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-radio-and-tv-18959341/yoko-ono-s-cut-piece-still-shocks (Accessed 05 December 2018)
  • Iles, C. (1997). Yoko Ono Have you seen the horizon lately? Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, Uk.
  • MoMA (no date) Cut Piece. Yoko Ono. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/yoko-ono-cut-piece-1964/ (Accessed: 05 December 2018)
  • Bryan-Wilson, J. (2003) Remembering Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece. Oxford Art Journal, Volume 26  - Available at: http://arthistory.berkeley.edu/pdfs/faculty%20publications/Bryan-Wilson/jbwyoko.pdf (Accessed: 9 Dec 2018)
  • Hendricks, J. (1990) Yoko Ono to see the skies. Mazzotta, Milano, Italy. 



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