Last week, we asked you to put your questions to Yoko Ono. Here are her exclusive answers, as part of her week-long Guardian digital takeover.
RichieM1 asked:
I read somewhere a quote from John Lennon that described you as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does."
For those people who this remains to be the case and/or still cannot detach you from the break up of the Beatles, how would you best describe what it is you do? Peace and Love!
Yoko answers …
If anybody feels better by thinking of me as a negative force - bless them.
SeaSpleen asked:
What bands today are the most interesting to you – music is subjective, but, I'd like to know what you think. Who are some of the most innovative artists, sound and/or visual to you today, 2012?
Yoko answers …
All musicians are trying to do what they can do. Even the ones who don't know that they are trying can give us peace and love by their creation. The opposite will be to create weapons, violence and war.
SeaSpleen asked:
What, in your view are long-term ramifications of the '69 Bed-In over Amsterdam/Montreal?
Yoko answers …
I am eternally thankful for any positive effect we had through what we did.
tomcasagranda asked:
Yoko,
Hi - What was it like working with Ornette Coleman ? Secondly, what happened to the Fluxus Movement ? Thirdly, did you ever meet members of the B-52's, as they were huge fans of your music ? Finally, I love Elvis Costello's cover of Walking On Thin Ice: do you have any favourite cover versions of Yoko Ono tunes?
Yoko answers …
1) Ornette was very gentle and let me do what I wanted.
2) Fluxus is still going!
3) Members of the B52s are very good friends now.
4) Elvis' cover is very, very hip. I love it. The others were all very good too. But Elvis' one shines brightest.
lesoy asked:
How has being Japanese influenced your work?
Yoko answers …
I learnt resilience and caring details.
semitone asked:
I'm interested in what you think of the state of art education at the moment. Do you think it is still important for artists to learn skills like drawing, painting and sculpture? Do you think tertiary art colleges have the balance right between teaching theory and concepts and teaching practical skills? And where do you think the next Lucian Freud – surely the greatest figurative painter of his generation – is going to come from, given that most "celebrity" artists working today are doing mainly conceptual art?
Yoko answers …
What will happen will happen. People will try something else if they are stuck in conceptual art. Art is action – so don't worry.
kleemo asked:
Yoko, after all those years, is 'Yes' still the answer?
And also, isn't Oh Yoko the loveliest song by John Lennon? (it's my favourite …) Joëlle.
Yoko answers …
Thank you, Joëlle. I also think Oh Yoko is a very lovely song.
The answer is still "YES." Do you want to say "NO" and sink together?
Shimo asked:
Ms. Ono,
Living in Japan, I know that here you are treated with a lot more respect. I have also been told that when you communicate in Japanese you speak in a very formal and measured fashion. As a language teacher I wondered whether you would agree that perhaps the difference in public perception of you in the English/Japanese speaking cultures stems in part from the way that you speak, and differences in what you say in the two languages. Would you even agree that you are perceived differently?
Yoko answers …
I am perceived differently in each country, I suppose. But that is alright. They should perceive me in the way they want to.
Tessmadaboutmusic asked:
Hi Yoko,
Have you ever thought of exhibiting in Dublin? I'd love to see your work
Yoko answers …
Well, let's see …
ghostoftomjoad asked:
Who was the first artist who interested/inspired you and why?
Yoko answers …
Myself.
pomodo asked:
As an artist, and someone who has spent a fair amount of time in Japan, I've always recognised a certain – for lack of a better term – Japanese-ness, or zen sensibility, to your work that also seemed a comfortable fit within the Fluxus project. Certainly other associated artists – John cage or Nam June Pik, for example – had been influenced by eastern thought in their conceptual approach to their practices; yet, generally, they were working within the context of a largely western art world or audience. I guess I'm wondering if you ever feel the work is received differently in Japan, where it may resonate with people on this kind of deeper cultural level, vs western audiences, where it comes through the filter of Fluxus, neo-Dada, or 20th-century "conceptual art."
Yoko answers …
I like the different way the work is perceived. More power to the difference. Let's not try to unify it.
prosepixie asked:
You've inspired generations around the world, and whatever else people say you have made an indelible mark on cultural history. What's the key to being happy?
PS I think you are a brave person for doing this. Thanks for inviting us to ask questions.
Yoko answers …
Sometimes I am happy and sometimes not. I am after all a human being, you know. And I am glad that we are sometimes happy and sometimes not. You get your wisdom working by having different emotions.
MiddleClassHero asked:
Dear Yoko
As an artist, what is your opinion of the current art world? Do you think that there is a lack of great art being produced, or just that the great artists aren't getting the attention they deserve?
Yoko answers …
Great Art is Great because it inspired you greatly. If it didn't, no matter what the critics, the museums and the galleries say, it's not great art for you.
maryjolene asked:
I love the piece SKY TV 1966, where the sky outside the gallery is filmed and simultaneously shown on a small TV/monitor within the gallery. How important is the scale of the TV screen in relation to the idea?
Yoko answers …
It was the TV I was inspired to bring in to the room, when my low rent apartment did not have any windows. I like to stick to the size of that TV as much as possible.
Writing on Facebook, Kiyomi Louet says:
I want to ask her how she thinks we can solve deprivation and poverty in developed countries
Yoko answers …
I think things will change for the better if we start to be kind and thoughtful to each other.
