Mend Piece for John, The Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc.; Yoko Ono

Artwork Overview

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Yoko Ono, artist
born 1933
Mend Piece for John, 1968
Portfolio/Series title: S.M.S. No. 5
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: ribbon; cardboard; plastic; paper
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): box 15.5 x 15.5 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 6 1/8 x 6 1/8 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Letha Churchill Walker Memorial Art Fund and Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Shearburn
Accession number: 1994.0128.02.a-h
Not on display

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Label texts

Resounding Spirit: Japanese Contemporary Art of the 1960s

The SMS Portfolio, produced in the volatile year of 1968, embodied the revolutionary zeal of the late 1960s. This work, dedicated to John Lennon (1940-1980), is a box containing materials and instructions for repairing a broken cup and continues Yoko Ono’s ongoing experimentation with “instructional” art. The instructions are as follows:

Take your favorite cup
Break it in many pieces with a hammer
Repair it with this glue and poem

A Poem in three Stanzas by Yoko Ono London winter ‘67
dedicated to John

1st stanza ….. to be read under a magnifying glass
2nd stanza ….. to be read under a microscope
3rd stanza ….. to be blown up photographically,
or by whatever method you choose,
until it becomes readable.

Exhibitions