Yoko Ono. Selections from Whisper Piece (four shown of sixteen total; installation view at The Museum of Modern Art). 2010. Pen on wall, dimensions variable. Collection of the artist. Photo: Jason Persse
I first heard about Yoko Ono’s so-called “instruction pieces” as a high school student, when a friend told me the (possibly apocryphal, certainly embellished) story of Ono’s first meeting with John Lennon. History according to the poorly fact-checked lunchtime ramblings of rock ‘n’ roll–obsessed seventeen-year-olds: During a visit to London’s Indica Gallery in 1966, Lennon encountered Ono’s Ceiling Painting. Climbing to the top of a tall, white ladder, he used a magnifying glass dangling from a thread to read a message printed in tiny letters on the ceiling: “YES.” Profoundly moved by the work’s unalloyed positivity, he demanded to meet the artist right away.
That story probably rates a 40% score on the Historical Accuracy Meter, but the (surprisingly spot-on) description of Ceiling Painting captured my imagination. I was captivated by Ono’s notional art—especially her “instruction pieces,” which she describes as “paintings to be constructed in your head”—because it placed the onus of creation squarely on the “spectator.” So when I heard that some of Ono’s participatory pieces would be included in MoMA’s Contemporary Art from the Collection exhibition, I got ready to shoulder the spectator’s burden and help create some art.
Yoko Ono adds a wish to her Wish Tree for MoMA, June 29, 2010. Courtesy of Yoko Ono. Photo: Anne Terada
I started in the Sculpture Garden with Wish Tree for MoMA. “Make a wish. Write it down on a piece of paper. Fold it and tie it around a branch of the wish tree. Ask your friend to do the same. Keep wishing.” No sweat! I added my wish to the hundreds of cards already hanging from the tree. (I would tell you what I wished for, but then I’d have to kill you.)
Next up was Whisper Piece, a series of sixteen instructions (like “Breathe heavily,” or “Smell the summer”) and affirmations (“You are beautiful,” for example) that Ono scrawled on the walls—and, in one case, the floor—of the second-floor Contemporary Galleries. (At one point a little girl asked me what I was doing squinting into a corner of the gallery, so I told her she had to find and follow the instructions, too. You can imagine my relief when I reached the exit without encountering instructions to steal a painting.) Following what few explicit instructions there were was no problem, and being told repeatedly that I was beautiful and loved did wonders for my self-esteem. The hard part was locating all sixteen tiny whispers.
Finally I returned to the Museum’s grand Marron Atrium, which currently contains Ono’s 1961 “instruction painting” Voice Piece for Soprano—”Scream. 1. against the wind 2. against the wall 3. against the sky”—along with a microphone and a pair of very loud speakers. I stared at the microphone for a while as a perfectly reasonable voice in my head informed me that I would not, under any circumstances, make a loud noise in a museum. Fifteen long minutes later, after watching several brave souls roar their hearts out in defiance of all propriety, I stepped up to the mic and let out a trio of wavering screams, each slightly less pathetic than the last.
And then it was over. Yoko and I had done it! Together we’d created a work of exhilarating, defiant, liberating art that turned heads, startled passersby, and covered me in a fine sheen of flop sweat. Besides, who hasn’t always wanted to let out a good scream at the office?
Comments
Do you know how long Yoko’s Voice Piece for Soprano—Scream will be up at MOMA?
Posted by Kelly
Kelly, ‘Voice Piece for Soprano’ is currently scheduled to remain on view through November.
Posted by Jason Persse
Most intrresting
Posted by Derek
Did anyone seen Ono perform couple of days back I did and managed to vidio it. Now in Dublin and still not to sure about what she was/ is trying to do?
She did this very small facial movement at the end which seen to say ‘fooled you’.
Posted by Singe
great story, great post. so cool how you were able to interact with the art. glad to hear Scream will still be there until November. Ashley, Travel Onion
Posted by Ashley
wow, I would love to try “Voice Piece for Soprano”. I did not know that type of art existed. Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece of information.
Posted by Tia
Don’t stop thinking! Thank you.
Posted by Eloisa Giotto Levy
Yoko should be forced to sit and listen to the screams that ruin the experience of MoMA. Can’t believe it’s not going away until November. Awful.
Posted by Michael
The “scream” part of Yoko Ono’s piece is incredibly disruptive to the rest of the museum, and it is a shame that it is scheduled to run until November. MoMA should seriously consider curtailing it, or lowering the volume on the very loud speakers. At least Marina Abramovic sat there quietly!
Posted by Michael
Okay, so I am one of the people who did not allow her innate curiosity to brave the ear splitting and abusive noise of this exhibit to find out just how ‘precious’ the exhibit is. Enough, already.
Posted by Marianne
OK, so I will mark December 1, 2010 as “Safe to enjoy art at MOMA again.”
Posted by Cliff Flanders
I found the screaming so offensive that I filled out an official complaint form. Going through the Matisse exhibit bombarded with screams (which could be heard on the sixth floor!) was extremely unpleasant.
Posted by Lizabeth
Your curators might want to alert your guards that the writing on the wall is a part of the exhibit. I figured as much, but when I went to confirm this fact with the guards they said either “well, maybe, I don’t know” or “no, definitely not. I don’t know why they haven’t painted over these yet.”
Posted by Rhiannon
Dear Rhiannon, thank you for bringing this to our attention I have passed this comment along to the exhibition’s curators and to security.
Posted by Rebecc Stokes, INSIDE/OUT
I’m so happy to see these pieces at MoMA. Yoko’s art is so valuable and so cleansing. I can’t wait for the day that MoMA gives her the full-fledged one-woman-show she deserves!
Posted by l.k.
I’ll return to MOMA when the screaming ends. It has usurped the museum. I stayed 15 minutes and left. What a selfish act.
So disrespectful of everyone-art lovers, artists and people working there. They should file for workers’ comp. I left the museum totally rattled and jittery-and I was there only 15 minutes!
Posted by Carolyn Wilder
I echo the comments of those who found this piece to be a terrible annoyance. The constant screaming can be heard throughout the museum, and it really disrupted my experience of the other artwork in the museum. I was shocked and horrified to see that this will be continuing through November! My membership will be up for renewal before then, but I will not renew until after this exhibit is ended.
Posted by Robert Anselmi
I actually find the screaming to be really incredible and the fact that its got so many people riled up about it just makes it all the more genius. It’s as much a reflection on the people hearing the screams as it is on the people actually screaming. A very simple yet uncompromising exhibit.
Posted by Kik
I would be interested to know has yoko spoken about this installation. Her rendition that I saw felt silly, her mannerisms seemed to confirm she felt silly, as did her rather self conscious approach. All the other screamers that are annoying most of the posters here’re irrelevant. As for Ik’s comments that Ono deserves a one woman show at moma, based on this, no way! Now a real female artist with talent would be a different matter, someone like Jenny Saville who has bags of artistic talent and has probably never slept with a rock star, although I don’t know this for certain… Well Jenny?
Posted by Singe
Her distinctively attenuated voice provides the structural frame for such interesting motive to express such kind of art and like the intellectual prism the scream soon becomes the whisper – she inhibits that idea in an abstract frame of reference. She’s not just Mrs Lennon, She’s Yoko Ono.
Posted by Minnie Rejever
“…I actually find the screaming to be really incredible and the fact that its got so many people riled up about it just makes it all the more genius…”
Genius? The only statement that this piece makes is that some celebrities can get paid for acting on their weird, impulsive behaviors.
Musicians including vocalists do tend to practice, but it appears that this one gave up long ago. She sings ‘out’ because she doesn’t know where ‘in’ is.
Posted by Ted Smith
Minnie Rejever,
What sort of pretentious nonsense is this. This sort of nonsensical comment gives modern art a bad name, I assume you are still a student. One of my old proffesors once told me that if art is good it can be explained to your Grandmother and she gets it.
Ps. your grammar is at best questionable.
Posted by Singe
This exhibit is annoying, period. There is nothing revolutionary about people trying to one-up each other by screaming louder than their friends. It was distracting from the actual art and disrespectful to the artists especially on the lower floors that have worked so hard to get their pieces featured in such a museum. It ruined my experience.
Posted by Jessica
How long did it take you to write those three absolutely indecipherable lines, Minnie? Two hours? Three, maybe? I bet you were proud of yourself afterwards. I sure would be.
Posted by Byron
Imagine if you will, trying to take in a piece of art and every 15 to 30 seconds someone comes up behind you and starts screaming as loud as they can. Probably kind of jarring, frustrating, intolerable. You weren’t warned by anyone when you entered the museum that your whole experience would be ruined by 13 to 20 yr olds giggling about how naughty they are screaming in a museum. This is not a cross section of humanity getting in on the artistic experience. The whole thing was a disaster. You can enjoy nothing. We are not rich people and we had to throw away $20 each and just leave. This is controversy on the cheap. Putting a bowl of razorblades in a room and encouraging people to go and slash all the other art would be controversial too. And almost as bad an idea. Whoever approved this should be fired. I absolutely recommend you don’t go to the MOMA until this is gone.
Posted by Jeff
I too was totally caught off guard with the screaming; every 20 seconds. But, it certainly peaked my interest. It was not until I reached the actual installation and let out my own scream, that I understood the beauty and the power of this piece. We were literally given a safe space to be human and express what might otherwise be considered unruly, disturbing, jarring, and offensive. I applaud Yoko Ono and the MOMA for exhibiting this piece.
Posted by Maggie
I hope no elderly asian women fall down , get sick or scream for help inside the MOMA , everyone would ignore them because they would just thinks its Wacky Yoko doing her skit.
Posted by tommy