"Bed-ins for Peace" by Yoko Ono and John Lennon

1. Write on what this work is about.

John and Yoko two met in London in November 1966. Their first album collaboration, "Two Virgins," showed nude photos of the lovers front and back, and was banned. On March 20, 1969, the couple wed. The following week, the two master media manipulators used their celebrity for good, hosting a honeymoon "bed-in" for peace in room 902, the presidential suite of the Amsterdam Hilton. The press avidly pursued them, assuming that the famous nudists would make love for their cameras. Instead, the pajama-clad newlyweds spoke out about world peace. It was the honeymoon as performance art, interlaced with a protest against the Vietnam War. Lennon's "The Ballad of John and Yoko" chronicles the week in song: "Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton / Talking in our bed for a week / The news people said / 'Hey, what you doin' in bed?'/ I said, 'We're only tryin' to get us some peace!'"

(Yoko Ono is a Fluxus artist)

2. Do you consider this as art? Why or why not?

Yes I do consider this art. However, it is not just any typical painting or sculpture. It is performence art.

Performence art: Performance art is art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time. Performance art can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience.

The performers' bodies (Yoko Ono and John Lennon) were used in the space of the room to transmit an important message to the world with the help of the media. Their message in this work would be world peace. It was also a protest again the Vietnam war.

What is judge to be valuable Art?

I believe valuable art must come from a valuable artist. He must have two factors: hard work and reflections.

Valuable Art must have the element of hard work whereby the artist makes use of his talent to paint/scuplt/etc. He must have had a deep thinking process for this work on how it is going to be like. For instance, Ron Mueck. He goes through the tedious process of scuplting all those hyper-realistic scupltures, like the Pregnant Woman. He has gone through multiple prototypes, sketches and research before he starts on his work. Also, Mueck has an amazing talent. All this is worth paying for, or even more. Or like Chuck Close. Before his accident, his works were exactly like photos or even better. So realistic. It captures even minute detail of the photo and places it on canvas all by hand, all by himself. Even up till to day, despite his accident, he still paints amazingly. That is valuable art. It must be worth it. All on the artist. The artist should have gone through hardwork, mentally and physically to achieve that piece of masterwork. From there, he will earn the respect of the audience and critics and thus becoming a valuable artist.

Moreover, the meaning is very crucial. Aesthetically, it may not be beautiful. However, when one talks about it, it becomes beautiful. It becomes a beautiful piece of work. Because the meaning within it hold so much. The working transform into a mere commodity into Art. Artwork, I believe, must always hold a meaning. Behind the canvas, is a secret world where it's meaning is revealed. It becomes more than a painting or scuplture, it becomes Art. It becomes valuable Art.

Stadium and punctum, a twin concept developed in the book Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, a French literacy critic Roland Barthes.

Studium:
denoting the cultural, linguistic, and political interpretation of a photograph
meanings that are nameable
given cultural meanings that we understand at once


Punctum:
denoting the wounding, personally touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it.
a personal memory based not on the public archive but a private repertoire
stings the viewer...some detail (some accident in the photograph)
occurs when there is a match between a signifier in the scene (in the photograph), and a scene in the memory

What is the studium of this work?

It is how this shot is taken, the angle of the work. It is not "properly" taken as how people would normally have a shot of it: a full view and straight up. And the paper against the wall is appearing to be grow larger and larger as it approaches the bottom of the photo. Maybe an emphasis of being different, on being an individual, on being their own. It is what many strive to do is today's world. Instead on being conventional, be unorthodox.

What is the punctum of this work?

I would think... the punctum of this work is how the floral wall-paper does not cover the wall entirely. It is only a long, slim strip of wall-paper plastered to only a small section of the wall while the rest of the wall is left blank and white. The punctum can also be floral motifs printed on the fabric. It's very reminiscent of the old days where florals were all the rage is fashion clothing. Such wallpapers also appears to be something you can find in a elderly westerner's house. Also, the fold at the top right hand corner that appear to pop out of the image.

My take on this 'mystery work':

The work shown above is made of a kind of metal or alloy thus the sleek, polished and reflective surface. It is also of a graphite colour. It looks like bubbles or an enlarged version of microscopic molecules going through an aggressive chemical reaction that is still on-going and growing. There also seems to a spill on the floor at the bottom-left hand corner of the work. The spill is of a graphite colour too. This work is presented at a stairway, which is interesting and different, unlike usual works which are usually placed on flat ground. There also seems to be another of a similar work at the background.

The title of this work is "The Takeover".

In my opinion, the work represents something hostile. The way the artist constructed in to look like an aggressive, dangerous chemical reaction that will keep growing and growing and will not stop, killing anything in it's path. It may appear rather harmless now. However, that is only temporary because it will grow into something massive and dangerous.


One example:

Maybe it's like how China is developing at such a rapid rate, it being the world's factory (eg. almost everything we own is 'made in china'). It came as shock to many because China was regarded as a less developed country before. Now, despite the global recession, China is still growing. Though many see this as a 'good' thing for China, it's banes outweigh it's boons. Massive pollution, homeless (eg. Homes were taken down to make way for the Olympics). It will kill the country if this continues. Just like this chemical reaction. It is a sign of technology and development. However, if it is not stopped and controlled, it can kill.

From there, I feel sorry for the Chinese who were so neglected (majority) as the rest of China develops (minority). I also feel upset because the Chinese government is like a locomotive running ahead, leaving the large amount of it's people in dust. China should slow down and wait for it's people to catch up. Then, they can move together smoothly. However, this may be inevitable since almost the entire world is relying on China to produce products etc.

As mentioned above, it is presented at a stairway, on public display. This for convenient viewing. It is also easier for the artist to convey his message with a wider audience, for people to reflect.

my wall