Yoko Ono is in Brazil

I saw two exhibits of Yoko Ono's work in Brazil. One is Sao Paulo, the other in Rio. One planned, the other by chance.

At the almost abandonned museum of modern art (a brutalist dream/nightmare of curvilinear concrete that lacks the tropic utopianism of Oscar Niemeyer that is usual of Brazilian modernism) near the small airport in Rio (along the harbor). And the Banco do Brazil Cultural Center (a belle epoque mansion with lots of frilly embellishments) in Sao Paulo. I cried when I walked into the room that held the installation Endangered Species, 2319-2322; I felt the need for peace reverberate through me, both shocking and reviving.

So though I live in the same city as Yoko Ono, I encountered her in Brazil in a way I never had before (though I loved her outdoor concert with DJ Spooky and Thurston Moore in Battery Park). I thought a lot about her under-recognized place in art and politics and I spent dynamic time discussing her with my friends there. I wrote the following in the Marian Palace Hotel in the rather deserted downtown of Sao Paulo. The hotel is a mid-century fantasy. The furniture in my room would have sent E-bay dealers in a tizzy and the simple deco lighting fixtures in the room were iconic and pure. The large window opened up onto a breathtaking urban vista dominated by a dalipadated church in the foreground and skyscrapers in the background. I woke to church hymns and traffic and Brazilian voices. The morning light was caffeinated.

I wrote these instructions in homage to Yoko and the arc of her lifework and they also cite my recent memories of Rio-its beaches, sunsets, and the ways in which people assemble and gain expression by being physically and emotionally close to each other:


imagine Yoko, not as the center but as the periphery
imagine her laugh
remember there are two superpowers in the world, the US and humanity.


light a candle
sit and look at the flame
blow the candle out
imagine the light inside


encounter the sound of water as it meets land
imagine yourself as that sound
disappear into your senses as you emerge as one as many
surrender to a smile


look at the sweep of the beach at sunset
let the light quiet you
see the moon rise as an experience inside yourself.
hold hands


decide that tomorrow you will clean a place in your room
sleep



listen to the language being spoken around you.
decide it is nonsense but full of meanings
recognize that all language twists the tongue
say obrigado/a over and over
thank the gods and saints for Brazil
think of nice things to say about your friends


remember to treat a person
with the dedication and awe in which you treat your most beloved objects
and remember any object can always be replaced and is already a copy
but your beloved is an original



remember how fun it is to clap your hands
stomp your feet
snap your fingers
and sing



look out the window
go to the wall
remember the view
paint it



dance:
1. stand still
2 on one leg
3 than the other
4 stretch your arms out then up then out then down without telling your body what to do
5 stare at the roadmap of your hands and plan your route
6 abandon it and just move