In Your Mind - The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono (eBook)
560 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-1603-2 (ISBN)
Madeline Bocaro is a New York based author and journalist. Her Yoko Ono biography is a result of her great appreciation and deep understanding of the artist and her work. This is the first complete, detailed Ono biography - the entire story of her fascinating life and work. The book is highly acclaimed by many, including Ono's friends and colleagues. The author has followed Ono's career since the 1960s. She has spent personal time with the artist and has assembled a vast multimedia archive on her work. Madeline has contributed to many books and documentaries about music. She was a staff writer at CMJ from its inception in 1978. Appointed by Ron and Russell Mael, Madeline wrote and edited the Sparks Official International Fan Club Newsletter for over 20 years.
In Your Mind - The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono is the true story of the woman John Lennon loved. An immersive journey in astounding detail, into the life, art, music and philosophy of one of the most innovative and misunderstood figures of the modern era. More than a biography, this 600-page book is the ultimate reference guide to Ono's life and work, with vivid storytelling and deep insight. The love story of John and Yoko is woven throughout the book, exploring the couple's creative synergy and complex partnership, and Ono's relationship to the Beatles. The author has closely followed Ono's career since the mid-1960s, gaining rare insight and collecting a wealth of biographical information from her own vast media archive on the artist. Yoko's own voice (along with Lennon's and many others) tells her undeniably true and incredible story, unravelling longstanding myths. Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist, fearless activist, musician, cultural lightning rod and lifelong advocate for peace. This book invites readers to enter the vast, conceptual universe that Ono has created over decades of fearless creative exploration. The book explores the misunderstanding and undeserved negativity that Ono has received throughout her life as an Asian woman and as the wife of one of the Beatles. It illustrates how Yoko's wisdom and spiritual nature helped her to survive using unthinkable life situations and great loss. The narrative traces Yoko's lonely childhood in Japan during wartime, her early years in Japan and America, exploring the cultural, historical and personal forces that shaped her world view. From formative experiences in Tokyo to her immersion in the 1960s New York's Fluxus art scene, we see how Ono's imagination was sparked by both trauma and possibility. Her pioneering work in conceptual and performance art often interactive, participatory and playful challenged conventional ideas of what art could be, adopting her audience as co-creators. Yoko's life story spans thirty-three years before meeting John Lennon, twelve years with him, and over forty-five years of creativity since his death. Lennon's murder and the aftermath is examined, as well as her life without him as the caretaker of his legacy. The book also delves into Ono's groundbreaking music career, with daring solo experiments in sound, and later her collaborative work with John Lennon as part of the Plastic Ono Band. There is also a historical journey through the shimmering 1960s and the turbulent 1970s when Lennon and Ono were the spokespeople for peace and love. Their shared activism like the Bed-Ins for Peace turned personal love into political performance. Ono faced extraordinary public scrutiny. The book re-examines this through a lens of empathy, historical accuracy and artistic context, showing Ono's resilience. Central to the book is the idea that Ono's art is not only tangible. It exists in the mind. She invites her audience to imagine rather than observe. Ono's pieces remove the boundaries between art and life. We visit Yoko's inner and outer worlds, where the impossible becomes possible. In Your Mind The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono is a meditation on the nature of creativity. It captures the paradox of Yoko Ono at once intensely private and profoundly public. Whether you are a longtime admirer or a curious newcomer, this book offers a thoughtful, engaging and comprehensive portrait of Yoko Ono's infinite universe a place where peace is not a dream but a daily practice, where art is not confined to galleries but lives in the mind. Where art is not about entertainment, but about healing. Ono's life story goes way beyond what most people know. Her incredible body of work expresses all the joy and suffering of an extraordinary lifetime. This book hits the imaginary nail on the imaginary head.
oh yoko!
I have always lived in the light of Yoko Ono, listening to everything that she has ever said – every sage word or signal that she has beamed to Earth from her ethereal realm. It is all wisdom. It may be likely that she is a bit strange or perhaps otherworldly, yet her occasionally weird yet always whimsical wisdom is highly inspirational. Every day, Yoko makes us think. She gives us hope, always sharing her innate optimism.
Yoko is sweet, wise and kind. Her mostly anonymous generosity extends to people worldwide – to countless charities and individuals. Her heart and understanding goes out to John Lennon’s fans, many of whom she has comforted and helped personally in many ways. She has always been my spirit guide – my shining light.
Yoko has taught me:
Your fear is protecting you.
There are no brick walls.
Start with feeling love for the problem. You will then know what step you wish to take.
Waves always return.
No cloud can cloud us forever.
Water is more valuable than gold.
The child in you will save you.
The light that shines on everything shines on you, too.
Silence is the highest form of expression.
@yokoono – Twitter
When I was nine years old, I was drawn to a photo in Time magazine (August 18, 1967). It was a review of director “Miss Yoko Ono’s” Film No. 4 (Bottoms), picturing her in front of one of her movie frames – of a naked butt! Bottoms was censored and banned from being shown. The idea of filming naked bottoms was delightfully ridiculous! It touched me on many levels. She gazed right at me in the photo. Her eyes were sincere, her smile sweet yet mischievous. I later read that Yoko stood outside the theatre handing out flowers to anyone who had come to see her censored film. This exemplified her childlike innocence and the purity of her intent.
As a child, I completely identified with her – an adult who remained innocently pure. Yoko was from the other side of the world, yet I knew that we would meet someday... and we did.
I have spent precious time with Yoko. She is truly magical – a special being. Many times, she has taken both my hands in hers and closed her eyes in concentration, channeling her inner light through to me – as a blessing. And I do feel blessed.
Yoko makes everyone feel beautiful, positive and serene. She will always make you smile. There is a gentle calming wind when she is near, and you realize that she IS the wind!’ A wind of change – of awakening. She urges us to see things differently. Yoko bewilders with a message or instruction so absurd, that we wonder if she really believes that such miracles can come true – yet it is impossible to doubt her sincerity.
You may think I’m small, but I have a universe in my mind.”
– Yoko, to artist Adrian Morris, London 1966
Before we met, Yoko became my imaginary friend. Her strange ideas were umbilically connected to mine. I also saw the humor in her art. It was like meeting the one person on Earth who treasured the same concepts, who got the joke and was just as misunderstood. The fact that she was Japanese was mystifying. Yoko has protected and enlightened my younger and older lives – always transmitting a hopeful message whenever I needed her. She was always with me, like a kehai vibration – the presence of a person behind or around you, although you don’t see them.
Her voice has always been a constant comfort. It’s a miracle that I found her in this world so long ago – and that we are looking at the same sun and moon every day. In some ways she is like a beautiful dream, but I have saved all the letters she wrote to me which prove that she is real. She said it perfectly:
“Your dream world and your real world. It’s all you.
Be thankful that you have two lives.
It’s more interesting than one.”
Twitter – July 26, 2016
The omnipresent John and Yoko permeated my childhood in the 1960s and 70s, uplifting and teaching me more about life than any pop star or guru ever could. They both understood the power and responsibility of celebrity, and always radiated positivity.
“In India you have to be a guru instead of a pop star...
Guru is the pop star of India, and pop star is the guru here.”
–Yoko, Playboy, 1980
In November 1980 at CMJ magazine where I worked, we received an advance promo single ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ / ‘Kiss, Kiss, Kiss’ from John and Yoko’s upcoming album Double Fantasy – their first, after a long silence while raising their child Sean. Our speakers were out being repaired, so we had to listen with headphones. My friends handed me the headphones first, knowing that I desperately needed to hear Yoko’s song on the B-side. It was heavenly!!! My elation was crushed just a few weeks later.
A girl sent Yoko a letter, saying that December 8th – the day of John’s murder, was her birthday. Yoko answered, telling her not to be upset but instead to celebrate the day – because not only was it the day that she came into this world, but also the day that John’s spirit was set free to travel the universe. Yoko continued to send this girl a birthday card every year for decades. Highly disturbed by the suicides after John’s death, she reached out and comforted others in the midst of her own unimaginable suffering – so that it might stop.
“...I have feelings – very genuine feelings, which even surprise myself – towards John’s fans. I feel a warm feeling towards them because we went through the same loss, I suppose.”
–We Are Only One, NME 1984
John’s death was the most overwhelming event in many of our lives. Many of us gathered at the Dakota on the cold, grey day of the vigil. Just when Yoko declared ten minutes of silence for John, a light snow began to fall. I tried to feel as much pain as possible for many years so that I could take some of the pain away from Yoko. I began writing to her.
My mailbox would glow whenever there was a letter from Yoko. Mostly we exchanged love letters. She sent me albums and Valentine’s Day presents. There were Christmas cards and exchanges about our mothers (she repeatedly comforted me when my mom passed away). She sent me her art piece – A Box of Smile. I sent her my own little “artworks” riffing on hers. She sent me A Piece of Sky, and cards saying, “I’m back from summer vacation.” or “Thinking of you.”
I asked many questions about her art and music. She always gave me enthusiastic, lengthy and informative answers. I encouraged her and highlighted positive points amidst all the negativity. Yoko appreciated that I understood her completely. She said that she received several terrible letters each day “...and then there are YOUR letters.” She had few trustworthy friends then – mostly hangers-on who wanted to obtain John’s unreleased recordings from her.
We met on her birthday in winter 1985. A friend insisted that Yoko needed to meet me. With some coaxing I hesitantly agreed to visit the Dakota building. On the previous night my fortune cookie said, “Whatever your plans, the cosmos is with you.”
Suddenly, like a dream, within five minutes Yoko and her companion Sam drove out of Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage on this shimmering birthday morning! Everything was merging – dream and reality, past and future. In front of the Dakota, I handed her a birthday present. When she saw my name and recognized my writing on the card, her eyes lit up! She let out a little scream and hugged me tightly. I clearly heard that beautiful little innocent voice that had spoken and sung to me all my life! It sounded as clear as her wishing bell at the beginning of ‘(Just Like) Starting Over.’
The sun was shining more brightly than ever in this magical moment. Her diamond necklace (a gift from John which she is wearing on the Double Fantasy album cover) was gleaming in the sunlight.
Looking into my eyes deeply in concentration she said, “Let me hold your hands.” Yoko held both my hands and closed her eyes. I knew that she was summoning her inner light, connecting with whatever higher power she believes in, and radiating that energy through me. It was as though she passed me her glass key. Her hands felt familiar and warm. Her hair was dark and shining. The shades couldn’t hide her beautiful eyes. Then she said, “Let me kiss you.” It was funny how she announced all of her loving actions. I kissed her cheek and we hugged tightly. She said, “I love you.” I felt a wave of warmth and calm. I have been blessed by Yoko!!! She has blessed me in the same way – with hugs and kisses, many more times over the years.
It sounds crazy, but I know she really believed that she was transferring energy. Others have shared the same experience, feeling undeniable physical vibrations from her. If I could ever return to a moment in time, this would be the one.
Over the years, Yoko invited me to showings of John’s artwork in NYC and to her own art exhibitions. She made sure I was present at the Strawberry Fields dedication ceremony in Central Park on John’s birthday, October 9, 1985. It was attended by worldwide dignitaries who donated indigenous trees and seeds from their countries to this memorial garden for John.
Then came the...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 1.11.2025 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-3178-1603-2 / 9798317816032 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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