(News Release from Walker Art Center)
KIM GORDON
Sunday, April 8, 2PM, $12 ($6 Walker Members)
Kim Gordon, a visual artist and musician, is most noted as a founding member of the acclaimed experimental rock group Sonic Youth. Her influence is manifest in the activities of such contemporary flash points as riot grrl and the current underground post-rock/art-rock scene. Though she does not seek notice, her renovations of punk, no wave, and avant-garde music and art are critically celebrated. Join her as she discusses another influential, cutting-edge musician, Yoko Ono, whose work has been described as pre-punk, punk, noise, no wave, etc. Move beyond the labels to a deeper understanding of the aesthetics these two performers share and extend.
WAITING FOR YOKO
Wednesdays, April 11, 18 and 25, 6:30-8:30 PM, $78 ($70.20 Walker Members and Seniors)
Lecture Room
In 1995, Yoko Ono made an appearance on the television show, "Mad About You," in which the character, Paul Buchman, a documentary filmmaker, is introduced to the artist when she requests him to make a film about the wind (an assignment he never completely understands). Nervously waiting to meet Ono for the first time, he repeatedly tells himself, "Don't ask her about breaking up the Beatles." In this course, offered in conjunction with the exhibition YES YOKO ONO, students try not to ask about the Beatles, but instead focus on the remarkable career of one of the most important artists of the 20th Century. Offering tools to help the students engage more confidently with conceptual, performance and video art, the course focuses on Ono's relationship to these post-war media, including her involvement with the Fluxus movement and the interpretation of her work relative to other women artists of her generation. Through slide- and video-illustrated lectures and a gallery tour, learn more about important themes in Ono's work.
CUT PIECE
Thursday, April 12, 7PM, Information Room, Free
Local performance artist Lisa D'Amour will perform one of Yoko's most famous and controversial performances, in which audience members are invited to cut away pieces of her clothing. A daring and compelling work, Cut Piece has been called "an aesthetic commentary on the complicit relationship between individuals and the social body as a whole in its collective behavior." D'Amour is a nationally recognized playwright and multi-disciplinary performance artist whose work has earned her Jerome and McKnight fellowships. She is a core member of the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis.
FREE THURSDAY LECTURE: DIANE MULLIN
Thursday, May 17, 7PM
Diane Mullin, Assistant Professor of Art History at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, explores the history and practice of artistic collaboration, with a focus on the variety of creative and social projects created by Yoko Ono and John Lennon.
JOAN JEANRENAUD: METAMORPHOSIS
WORLD PREMIERE
Saturday, May 19, 8PM, $14 ($7 Walker members)
Auditorium
After 20 years with the seminal Kronos Quartet, world-renowned cellist Joan Jeanrenaud embarks on new territory, collaborating with composers, designers, video and visual artists to push the boundaries of the concert experience. Jeanrenaud will present the world premiere of Metamorphosis, an evening-length work comprised of five compositions interwoven in sequence without pause.
JOAN JEANRENAUD: ICE CELLO
Sunday, May 20, 12Noon-4PM, Free with Gallery Admission
This performance art work was first conceived by conceptual artist Jim McWilliams and performed by the late Charlotte Moorman during the New York Avant-Garde Festival, an annual event in which Ono often participated. Joan Jeanrenaud re-stages the piece in collaboration with McWilliams and sound artist Stepen Vitiello. Over the course of several hours, Jeanrenaud will "play" a cello made entirely of ice, while Vitiello manipulates and amplifies the sounds produced from the melting ice. The result is an enveloping environment of sound and image that raises questions of permanence/impermanence and a heightened awareness of our surroundings.
ON THE WEB
www.walkerart.org/pa/sonicflux/ono/
The exhibition includes the launch of Sonicflux: Yoko Ono, the third installment of the Walker's Sonicflux series, which explores the artists' ideas through acoustic interactive environments. Taking the cue from her early Fluxus scores, or instruction sets, this online piece explores Ono's work in audience participation as it translates to the online medium.
More YES Yoko Ono News:
Opening
Weekend Events
Overview
of Exhibit at Walker Center
Early
Walker Center News
Japan Society News Release
YES Yoko Ono Book
