Yoko Ono

I have read an unfortunate number of self help, inspirational and coaching books that pretend to have all the answers if only you would contort your life into their formulas. They are by and large quite useless. Yoko Ono’s Acorn, however, is a whimsical breed apart. It does not prescribe; it invites. Yoko Ono has taken the simple pleasures of a child’s perception of the world and invited all to see them again. No pressure, no journals, no tests, no measurements. Just appreciate:

The sky show more is not only above our heads
It extends all the way down to earth.
Each time we raise our foot from the ground
We are walking in the sky.

Ono’s pleasing pointillist illustrations are a perfect complement to the short texts. They show great depth and imagination, so they fit beautifully. They can be anything you want them to be. They are reminiscent of Escher and Calder, with a dash of Dali.

Altogether, Acorn is an inspired delight. One last invitation from the author:

Take your pants off
Before you fight.

Tell your congressman. show less

I can't believe these reviews! To people who hated it and who hate Yoko Ono: wtf have you ever done that made me feel good about life? Have you ever slowed down time through the economy of words? Have you ever made me wonder? Yoko Ono likes simple words everyone can understand arranged in small, beautiful koans! Little bouquets of language! Just like flowers! You have to stop and smell them!!! What's not to understand/like? I love this!! GTFO!

Ok, this was a very important bk to me. In 1975 when I read this, I wd've just recently heard Ono's "Fly" LP wch I also loved enormously so when I read this it had plenty of impact. I was probably just learning about Fluxus in general at the time. This is "A book of instructions drawings by Yoko Ono" & it exemplifies Fluxus short performance index card scores - such as the ones also explored by George Brecht. I have "LIGHT PIECE" circled in pencil:

"Carry an empty bag.
Go to the top of a show more hill.
Pour all the light you can in it.
Go home when it is dark.
Hang the bag in the middle of your
room in place of a light bulb."

Love it. Imagining doing that seems fun even now 32 yrs later so this definitely endures the test of time for me. Then there's "PAINTING TO BE STEPPED ON":

"Leave a piece of canvas or finished
painting on the floor or in the street."

Now, many yrs later, she had a piece like this in a museum or a gallery & somebody walked on it & he was arrested & charged. Ono's comment was something to the effect that 'there are many ways to walk on something' as her way of saying that the guy was an asshole. I'm on his side. But, what the fuck, I give Ono slack - her husband was killed by an asshole or a Manchurian Candidate or whatever. Then there's a piece called "LINE PIECE III", another piece I have circled:

"Draw a line with yourself.
Go on drawing until you disappear."

A friend has told me that that's actually a well-known LaMonte Young piece but I suspect that Young might've done a similar thing that wasn't exactly the same or that there was enuf Fluxus cross-fertilization for pieces to have ambiguous authorship. Dunno. Anyway, this bk has a way of thinking that's completely out-of-the-box & I admire it for that. It's chock-full of ideas & she deserves to be considered a great artist even if she is from a rich banking family & has probably never had to work a day in her life. Privileged scum. show less

On December 8, 1980, I had a date. I think it was my third or fourth date with this girl and I was at her place hanging out listening to music and drinking coffee Seriously, just coffee!. I don't what time it was when I left her house, but it was after midnight (EST), this I am sure of. As I normally did, I turned on the radio to WNEW- FM,, no Sirius/XM back then, a NYC rock station. They were playing a Beatles block which was not unusual. Seconds after driving away the DJ said that John show more Lennon had been shot and killed at The Dakota, he and Yoko's NYC home in Manhattan. 40 years later, I remember this moment as it was yesterday.

This book brings back that moment as if I was watching a high-def movie. The conversations contained herein are nothing short of historic, not just because of the subject, but because of what that subject was saying. John loved to talk. Here he opines on topics as mundane as food to deeply held beliefs about nuclear war, politics and religion. I vividly remember buying the December 1980 issue of Playboy and reading the abridged version of what was to become this book. The Playboy issue was published and delivered BEFORE John was killed. I still have that issue.

One does not need to be a fan of The Beatles or John Lennon for that matter, to enjoy this book. One needs to be curious about history, music and wants to get inside of won't of the true original minds of the 20th century. You may not agree with John's opinions and comments, but I can guarantee you you will find it hard-pressed to put this book down once you start it. show less