i picked up jonathan cott's days that i'll remember: spending time with john lennon and yoko ono, after reading nick offerman's yoko ono profile in his work, gumption. cott's work was listed as a reference and as a further reading on more about yoko, so i decided to check it out.
as i mentioned in the gumption post that i adore yoko ono. yes, i did hate her for a while due to rumors that she broke up the beatles, and once i discovered her art, my opinion changed. i'm not sure when i first learned of her art, but remember being amazed by the performance piece, in which she allowed members of the audience to cut away her dress. if you know me, i am all about participation in art and this piece, i found profound because its interesting to see how people cut, whether they were timid or aggressive, if they cut away a lot or a little. if her art was this cool, no wonder john fell for her. the first interaction i ever had with her art was wish tress in pasadena. i always said when i finally have a home of my own, i will set up a wish tree for my guest to leave wishes on.
back to the work. i will start by saying that had times, i didn't want to know about what was going on with cott, but what was going on with john and yoko, but then i realized that if i knew them, i course i would write about myself. and of course, it is about his time hanging out with them, so i shouldn't be so judgmental. cott also interviewed lennon three days before his death and that is interview is in here as well. cott explained how after lennon's death, he couldn't bear to listen to the tapes so hit them away. however, when rolling stone was doing an anniversary issue, he looked for the tapes to share.
the reason i picked up this book was to learn about yoko, but of course, john was the primary focus in this case, which is understandable. he's john lennon. however, to be completely honest, i didn't enjoy his interviews, because at times he came off as pompous. but it isn't his fault, we search for answers to life from our celebrities when really they are just people. i mean he spoke truth when it came to peace and love and life, but other times i was like really john? what are you talking about? but i guess the same thing goes on with kanye west for me today. i love his music, but he doesn't always articulate himself that well, i think the same was for john lennon. he is only human and not everything he said needed to be certain. there was one thing that lennon shared that i found very profound. he shared how there are only two people he has chosen to collaborate with and that paul mccartney and yoko ono. he brought paul to the quarrymen, paul brought geroge, and george brought ringo, but it was only paul that john initially sought. that is some food for thought.
and one last thing about the beatles, as john shared, if you listen to the white album, they are no longer the beatles, but in fact, four individuals artist with a back up band. and this is the reason for the break up. it was not due to yoko. there was a story shared about how ringo felt excluded, but when he went to the other beatles, they expressed the same feeling. this story also went on to share how octopus's garden came to be, when having squid, the captain of a boat shared with ringo about how octopi would take shiny rocks and put them in front of their caves like a garden! cute story huh, though ringo did share how a couple of tokes helped him out as well.
but back to yoko. i really read this to learn about her. first off, i have to share with a strong spirit, she had. when she and john got together, she was had to deal with a very harsh backlash by everyone, her looks, and race were criticized. for her to have endure that demonstrates what a strong spirit she has. not to mention the fact that the love her life was murdered and she still continues on and shares his message of peace and love.
though i had read about it in offerman's work, it was nice to read about how they met at an exhibit of yoko's art. i loved how either one hadn't heard of each other, yet it was great to see how john got yoko's art. for example, john wanted to hammer a nail in the piece painting to hammer a nail and since the show wasn't open yet, yoko said no. the art dealer told her to let him because he was a billionaire and could buy the piece. yoko then offer to sell him an imaginary hammer and nail. john found that clever! this section then went on to describe other works by yoko ono, which i had the privilege of seeing at the moma at her recent show. though sadly i didn't get to touch any of the pieces.
though i am a big fan of yoko and john as a couple, i will say i was a little upset about their cheating on their spouses. both were married, the first time they had sex. granted then ended up divorcing, it was kind of disappointing to see that their love came with infidelity. (i know i'm so old fashioned!)
(quick john story, i really dug his piece for "you are here". he tagged balloons and set them free. the balloons were tagged, so that they would be mailed back to him. it was inspired by a time he found a tag balloon from australia.)
i thoroughly enjoyed reading about her avant-garde pieces for example whisper piece, which was like a game of telephone in which every member of the audience participated and the last person went on stage just for yoko to say, "don't tell me". my favorite was her first public solo concert that took place at carneigie rectial hall and it all had to do with silence and darkness. it focused on what we think we hear when it's quiet and what we see when it's dark. she did things like put live crickets around the theater. she had a person stand in the bathroom, to give off that fright of someone else being in the room. i found it very clever and interesting. i also loved that she shared about her bag piece because i participated in that when i went to the moma. it was really great to read about her art. it was also interesting to read about how influenced she is by the sky, especially since the new piece she had for the moma, was a single stairway up to the top of ceiling of the moma, where it was window and you could see the sky. her art is amazing.
it was also interested to learn about her background. she is the descendant of an emperor. she does have a very privileged background, but also suffered due to the bombings of world war II. i enjoyed reading about her first memory which was a recurring dream she had. she was in a cave when a tiger appeared and roared, and then she went through a tunnel and was in a hospital room. she believes it to be a memory of her birth. really, how cool is she?!?
i really enjoyed this book because i was able to learn more about yoko ono. hopefully, she will write a memoir. i have to check to see if there are biographies on her. i really would love to learn more about yoko the artist then yoko, john lennon's wife.
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