Yoko Ono's Dreams

Abstract

Yoko Ono has often stated, ‘A dream you dream alone is just a dream, but a dream you dream together is reality’. From the legendary story of her first meeting with John Lennon in 1966, in which he climbed the ladder of her Ceiling Painting (1966) at London's Indica Gallery, picked up the magnifying glass and saw the word ‘yes’ written on the ceiling, to her 2007 Imagine Peace light tower in Reykjavik, Iceland, Yoko Ono has consistently expressed her faith in the power of positive wishing. While some of her instruction pieces could be realized in material form, should an ambitious gallery-goer so wish, several of these ‘instruction paintings’, such as Painting to be Constructed in Your Head (1962), could be realized only conceptually.With the Instructions for Paintings, Ono affirms the power of the viewer, not merely as an interpreter, but as a co-creator of the work. Lennon, arguably her greatest collaborator, claimed that the aforementioned Ceiling Painting's simple affirmative declaration, ‘yes’, set their partnership on its course. Still other works are best realized socially and politically. War Is Over (If You Want It) – their 1969 poster and billboard action – inspired enough political action that the president of the United States sought to have them deported for fear that they would undermine his foreign policy and political fortunes. Through discussion of these works and others, this article considers the role of affirmation in Ono's conceptual and political actions.