Yoko Ono covers the January issue of Interview magazine. She’s 80 years old now and is just as full of beans as she’s always been. Yoko is promoting her new book, Acorn, which is an book of incantations or “brain poetry.” The book was inspired by Yoko and John Lennon’s late-1960s acorns “for peace” project. I think Yoko is pretty cuckoo, but she also reminds me of my late Japanese grandmother in an artsy fartsy way. My grandma was a photography, art professor, and museum curator, so I appreciate art when it’s actually art. Not when it’s the Lady Gaga or James Franco variety.
Yoko was interviewed by film critic Elvis Mitchell for the magazine. Naturally the topic of John and The Beatles came up in conversation. I’d like to point out how Paul McCartney recently declared that Yoko did not break up the band. He also called Yoko a “badass” before saying, “I thought, ‘If John loved her, there’s got to be something. He’s not stupid. It’s like, what are you going to do? Are you going to hold a grudge you never really had?” It only took Paul, what, 35 years to make this statement? Then Yoko spoke up a week later to say how “thankful” she was for Paul’s admission. She’s still pretty upset about the decades of fallout. Here are some excerpts:
On her near-lifelong reputation: “Not being appreciated for 40 years or something … It feels like I was accused of something that I didn’t do, which was breaking up The Beatles. That was like being somebody who is in prison without having done anything wrong. It’s like you’re accused of murder and you’re in prison and you can’t get out. That’s why I finally came to the conclusion to use that big energy of hatred that was coming to me and turn it around into love.”
On Paul McCartney’s statement: “I don’t know … It’s a strange feeling, you know, because I’ve been sort of trained … Well, not trained. I was going to say I ‘trained’ myself–and maybe I did train myself to feel a certain way. But I just felt always frightened, struggling. But then suddenly they’re saying, ‘No, you don’t have to fight. We understand you!” It’s like you’ve been knocking on the door for 40 years and then someone suddenly says, ‘You don’t have to knock on the door–the door is already open.’ Oh … Okay! So how are you going to deal with that? And I have to be very cautious. It’s better that you’re criticized than complimented as a person. Because if you’re criticized then you can use it as an experience. Compliments, you can’t use.”
When Elvis compliments her work: “That’s very sweet–I appreciate that. But these days, when you go to hotels or somewhere like that, they always have a mirror, but the mirror doesn’t really reflect you. It just suggests, like an airbrush thing of you. And if you keep looking at what you see in that mirror, then you can’t really deal with your real face.”
Art is the way she lives her life: “Art, for me, is about survival for my mind–like, if I don’t do these things, then I might become insane or something. So it helps you keep your sanity just to do it. You have to release your emotion in order to keep your sanity. Art is life … It’s about living, but it’s a way of making your life elegant.”
On elegance: “Yes, it is. I mean, we could be monkeys and just eat bananas and scream all day or something. Or we could have coffee in the morning. We created a thing called culture and civilization, and now we’re about to lose it because we’re trying to destroy everything. And I kind of miss it. I miss culture and civilization.”
On entertainment vs. art: “Well, see, that’s the difference between entertainment and art. People just love to be entertained, and in order to entertain them, you have to do things in a way that they understand. So automatically, you have to go to a certain place, and I wasn’t doing that. But then, also, I really think that any invention or discovery cannot be done unless you are totally free–free of those people.”
[From Interview magazine]
Yes she’s still completely artsy fartsy and unapologetic about it. Which is fine. She’s Yoko freaking Ono and has earned the right to make grand statements about art. Regarding The Beatles controversy, I do think her choice of words — “like you’re accused of murder” — are a bit harsh and hyperbolic. Then again, Yoko’s been spoken of horribly for decades by fans of The Beatles. It is true that she was convicted by the jury of rock ‘n’ roll without a trial.
This shoot is so weird. Pure Yoko.
Photos courtesy of Interview magazine
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