Über Ono

Monday March 5th was the press opening for Tim Hawkinson's show Zoopsia at the Getty, up until the beginning of September. There's a slide show of the new work at the NY Times, but the pictures don't do the work justice: go see it in person.

All the local and national news media were there, also Tim's former gallerist and Jim Wood, performing his first official duty as the new president of the Getty. I guess Susaanne Muchnick was there for the food, since there was nothing about the installation of Uberorgan in today's paper.

We got to the Getty early and got to see "Art Anti-Art Non-Art: Experimentation in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan 1950 - 1970," running through the beginning of June. The show is off in the Getty Research Institute and pulls some incredible gems from the library's collection.

Here's a blurb from the Getty:
At the end of World War II, Japan was left in ruins and in a cultural void. Numerous antiestablishment artistic collaboratives emerged during this period, notably Jikken Kōbō/Experimental Workshop, Gutai, Group Ongaku, Fluxus and Tokyo Fluxus, Yomiuri Independent artists, High Red Center, VIVO, and Provoke. These collectives eschewed traditional commercial art practice in favor of radical work that provoked its audience conceptually, politically, and socially.

There's also a conference, screenings, and performances in conjunction with the show.

It happened to be our lucky Fluxus moment, as Yoko Ono's Telephone Piece was included in the show...and the phone rang!

I got a chance to chat with Yoko, and in keeping with the spirit of the piece, the conversation will remain private.

I guess I should explain the image above. Those are Hawkinson's lips from Zoopsia, helping to spell out Yoko's last name. So if you're up at the Getty, stop by GRI and say hello to Yoko!

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