Great response, Tyler! Wow. This is the clearest illustration of art
versus pop culture that I've ever read, and an accurate defense of Yoko
at the same time.
Yoko draws fire because she's Asian (so racism can be "safely"
expressed), a woman (how about some misogyny too), and her art has
always been way ahead of its time, i.e., most people would not be able
to understand it as it's being done (so let's throw in some fear of
whatever's new and not instantly understandable into the mix also), and
she "stole" John (not only a woman but a damn powerful one if she did
that and *all by herself* broke up the Beatles. It's silly to think
that, isn't it? and is completely disrespectful of John; I prefer to
believe he had some choice in the matter).
Not everyone has to like Yoko's work. Of course not. However,
sarcastically denigrating her, without making ANY attempt to understand
her efforts, says everything about the ignorance of the speaker and
nothing at all about the value of what Yoko's done. Artists aren't
responsible for anyone's lack of education or curiosity or willingness
to learn or willingness to be open to something new.
Tyler Hewitt wrote:
> ...I know that there have been
> many "artists" who have no ability...
>
> Name some. Outsider artists don't count.
"No ability" is a code phrase and the speaker usually means the artist
is not drawing or painting representationally.
Most artists have a strong visual sense and can indeed draw a
representation of something in the real world, *if they choose to*.
Usually that's why people get into art in the first place. That is
barely the beginning of art's possibilities, though.
Ten-year-olds judge art to be good depending on the degree of realism
achieved, and while they are trying to get a grip on the world it makes
sense they would think so literally. To them a "good" drawing is one in
which a tree looks exactly like a tree. Adults who still think that way
are way behind in their art appreciation abilities (and I would say in
their life appreciation abilities, too).
> From the original message:
> ...Just picture if you would that Yoko was a vocal
> born again Christian. Do you really think she would
> get any praise for her art?
First off, it can't be pictured. There's no way she would be doing the
avant garde explorations she's done for decades if she was a born-again
Christian. Isn't part of being born again the sense of "finding the
answers" and being very happy about that? Yoko is all about asking
questions. Viewers have to be willing to continue to ask questions too.
Secondarily, if the original message writer is asking if Christians get
positive attention for what they do, I'd say listen to all the "thanking
God" that goes on when people are given awards, especially Grammies. It
seems that anyone NOT willing to claim Christianhood would be at a
disadvantage.
That is popular culture, though, which aims to please the largest number
of people, whereas art, ideally, aims to express the artist's truth
regardless of people's reactions to it. I did say IDEALLY.
> ...If Yoko had not screwed John lennon she would never
> have been recognized for anything. It was only because
> of her relationship that she was allowed access to the
> entertainment industry. You may disagree but thats my
> take.
>
> And your take is sexist, ignorant and (horror of
> horrors) makes the assumption that the entertainment
> industry is the pinnacle of creative success. Greater
> heaps of bullshit I havn't encountered in a while!
Me either. Another woman-hating message on this list. "If Yoko had not
screwed..." Damn. That's getting beyond annoying now. And it's laughable
to think of the entertainment industry as even nurturing art at all,
much less being the ultimate in artistic achievement when one succeeds
in that arena.
> Yoko had achieved a great deal of notariety and
> success in the art world years before she met Lennon.
> She was a prime mover in the Fluxus art movement, an
> extremely significant development in art that paved
> the way for conceptual art, performance art, and
> postmodernism. She was also instrumental in opening up
> the art world to women and minorities (that's still
> much more of an ongoing battle than it ever should
> be).
>
> I would argue that hooking up with John was very BAD
> for her career. All of a sudden she was held to a new
> standard-the considerably less important yet more
> influential word of pop culture. Yoko's ideas, while
> extremely important and relevant to the art world,
> were seen as weird to the world at large. John tried
> to help people to see the beauty of her ideas, instead
> was seen as being sucked into her circle of weirdness.
>
> Had Yoko not met John, I think we would see Yoko Ono
> work in the collections of major contemporary art
> museums around the world. We would relate to her the
> way we relate to Robert Rauchenberg or Gerhard Richter
> or John Cage. Instead, she is, to the vast majority of
> those who have heard of her, 'that asian bitch who
> took the Beatles away from us'.
I love these three paragraphs and say, yes, I agree to it all.
The people that now go ga-ga over Van Gogh and the Impressionists and
then make fun of contemporary art are no different in attitude than the
people who made fun of Van Gogh during his lifetime. It took 100 years
for most people to appreciate what Van Gogh and the Impressionists were
doing. It may take that long for Yoko too. Her efforts are in a
completely different league than the Beatles. She's art; the Beatles are
popular culture. The two can't be compared, and if they are, then the
Beatles are the ones lacking in substance, enjoyable as their music is.
> Think back for a second. Ever had one of those life
> changing moments where all of a sudden everything you
> know to be true is suddenly called into question?
> Where your little mind gets blown so wide open that
> the new ideas come rushing in and crowd out everything
> else? For some people, their first acid trip did this.
> For others, reading 'Catch 22' did it. For John, it
> was Yoko.
This paragraph is great! It now has me thinking back, too, and even
looking forward in anticipation. Thanks, Tyler, for your entire post.
Debra Shea
