In Yoko Ono’s interview, Hans Ulrich Obrist, the interviewer, touched on an array of art subjects including that of music, conceptual art, and sound art. The first bit that fascinated me was when Yoko Ono mentioned the word, “static,” stating that “the paintings or the sculptures did not have to be static” and “Static life seemed innately false to [her]” (2). This brings me to the point about how Yoko Ono’s desire for positive change and differences has allowed her to transcend into the avant-garde. She yearns for people to participate and adhere their thoughts onto her projects, such as her Grapefruit book or her unrealized “Freight Train” project.
When Obrist brings up the do-it-yourself aspect in which Yoko Ono invites people to add/subtract to her art, involving evolution of an art piece, I realize that this really goes against her perfectionist outlook that she mentioned at first. Perhaps, it takes a lot of self-discipline to allow visitors their own freedom in changing your work, even though this is also the same way with the internet. When Obrist questions whether “the internet could be/have been a kind of partial realization of the utopia of the 1960s?,” (4) Yoko Ono wholeheartedly agrees. She even relays how the “human race will keep finding ways to survive,” (5) relating to how internet may be part of the avant-garde notions at the time.
The last thing I wanted to touch base on is, when Obrist defines “utopia” without the totalitarian tendency many people associate it with, Yoko Ono also brings up her own anecdotal story of being immigrants to the US, and wanting to surrender to Peace instead of fighting for Peace. Her and John Lennon’s make-believe Nutopia is a free conceptual country that everyone belongs to. Ending on that, I think it’s a wholesomely positive albeit whimsical outlook, and Yoko Ono definitely has made an impact on the world of sound art through her act of allowing others to participate within her own creation.