Acorn
Yoko Ono
Acorn
ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL 2013
Contents
Introduction
Your Piece
Sky Piece I
Sky Piece II
Sky Piece III
Sky Piece IV
Sky Piece V
Sky Piece VI
Sky Piece VII
Sky Piece VIII
Sky Piece IX
Sky Piece X
Earth Piece I
Earth Piece II
Earth Piece III
Earth Piece IV
Earth Piece V
Earth Piece VI
Earth Piece VII
Earth Piece VIII
Earth Piece IX
Earth Piece X
City Piece I
City Piece II
City Piece III
City Piece IV
City Piece V
City Piece VI
City Piece VII
City Piece VIII
City Piece IX
City Piece X
Connection Piece I
Connection Piece II
Connection Piece III
Connection Piece IV
Connection Piece V
Connection Piece VI
Watch Piece I
Watch Piece II
Watch Piece III
Watch Piece IV
Watch Piece V
Watch Piece VI
Room Piece I
Room Piece II
Room Piece III
Room Piece IV
Room Piece V
Room Piece VI
Cleaning Piece I
Cleaning Piece II
Cleaning Piece III
Cleaning Piece IV
Cleaning Piece V
Cleaning Piece VI
Sound Piece I
Sound Piece II
Sound Piece III
Sound Piece IV
Sound Piece V
Sound Piece VI
Sound Piece VII
Sound Piece VIII
Sound Piece IX
Sound Piece X
Dance Piece I
Dance Piece II
Dance Piece III
Dance Piece IV
Dance Piece V
Dance Piece VI
Dance Piece VII
Dance Piece VIII
Dance Piece IX
Dance Piece X
Life Piece I
Life Piece II
Life Piece III
Life Piece IV
Life Piece V
Life Piece VI
Life Piece VII
Life Piece VIII
Life Piece IX
Life Piece X
Wish Piece I
Wish Piece II
Wish Piece III
Wish Piece IV
Wish Piece V
Wish Piece VI
Questionnaire I
Questionnaire II
Quiz I
Quiz II
Quiz III
Quiz IV
Quiz V
Quiz VI
Revelations
End Piece
Introduction
It’s been nearly 50 years since my book of conceptual instructions, Grapefruit, was first published.
Some years ago, I picked up from where I left off, and wrote Acorn for a website event.
Now it’s being published in book form. I’m riding a time machine that’s going back to the old ways! Great!
I added my dot drawings to give you further brainwork.
I’m just planting the seeds. Have fun.
Your Piece
Name (Including all the names you are called by):
Address (past, present, future):
Age: I am at the age where . . .
What you like:
Place:
Time:
Weather:
Colour:
Sound:
Smell:
Taste:
Describe your world as you see it.
a) inner:
b) outer:
Your regret:
Your pride:
Your attachments:
a) animate:
b) inanimate:
Your wish:
1)
2)
3)
Sky Piece I
Towards the end of the Second World War, I looked like a little ghost because of the food shortage. I was hungry. It was getting easier to just lie down and watch the sky. That’s when I fell in love with the sky, I think.
Since then, all my life, I have been in love with the sky. Even when everything was falling apart around me, the sky was always there for me. It was the only constant factor in my life, which kept changing with the speed of light and lightning. As I told myself then, I could never give up on life as long as the sky was there.
Tell us when you first noticed the sky.
Tell us when you first noticed that the sky was beautiful.
Sky Piece II
Look at a star in the sky
not as something unreachable
but as a planet you would visit one day.
Sky Piece III
Spring
Imagine a cloud
slowly
going across the sky
and back.
Send a postcard to your friend.
Sky Piece IV
Summer
Imagine a dolphin dancing in the sky.
Let it dance with joy.
Think of yourself at the bottom of the ocean
watching.
Imagine a group of dolphins dancing in the sky.
Blow kisses to them
in your mind.
Sky Piece V
Autumn
Imagine running across a wheat field
as fast as you can.
Imagine your friend running towards you
as fast as possible.
Imagine the colour of the sky.
If it’s clouded,
see if there are any blue spots.
If it’s clear,
see if there are any clouds.
If it’s stormy,
look out for thunder and lightning.
If it’s snowing,
take your coat off
so you can wrap it around your friend.
Sky Piece VI
Winter
Watch the sun
until it comes into your body
and stays as a tiny sun.
It will keep your face shining
even in the coldest of winter.
Sky Piece VII
Climb up a ladder to reach the sky.
Try ladders of different heights.
See if the sky looks any closer
from a higher ladder.
Sky Piece VIII
Sit under a blue sky.
Keep your head open
and empty.
Let ideas come into you.
Cherish them.
Sky Piece IX
Jump up into the sky.
Jump down from the sky.
1) Before you jump, plan how you want to do this:
a) to jump in one go
b) to jump in two or three leaps
c) how to space the leaps
2) Make sure how high you want to go:
a) to where people could still see you
b) just out of the stratosphere
c) to another planet
3) Make note of where you want to come down to:
a) the same place you jumped up from
b) a city or country you know
c) somewhere you have never been to
Sky Piece X
The sky is not only above our heads.
It extends all the way down to earth.
we are walking in the sky.
Walk around the city with that awareness.
Check how long you walked in the sky today.
Earth Piece I
Listen to the sound of the fire burning
in the center of the globe.
Earth Piece II
We humans are not satisfied with just knowing the tip of the iceberg. With technological advancements, we are changing the map of the world in a big way. For centuries, we kept changing the map to simulate our nervous system, by creating roads, building dams, and skylines. But now, we want to reveal what is under the ice.
Icebergs are melting.
The snow on the Alps is melting.
It will create a big shift
in the axis of the globe itself.
We will see shorelines disappearing,
oceans turning into rich fields
and deserts turning into green lands.
Some of us may want to leave this globe
to live on another planet.
But there’s no need to panic.
Knowledge will always give us a solution.
Melt the icebergs and snow in your life.
Earth Piece III
Your feet are your physical connection to this planet.
Touch the earth directly with your bare feet.
Let the Earth energy circulate
from your feet to your head
and back again.
Earth Piece IV
Have you seen the horizon lately?
Measure the horizon from where you sit.
Let us know its length and why.
For example: The horizon is short
because it is between two buildings.
Think what that length is doing to your mind.
Earth Piece V
Watch the sunset.
Feel the Earth moving.
Earth Piece VI
It takes a billion light-years for a blinking of a star to reach us.
Likewise, the light from Earth will take a long time to reach another planet. By using this time warp, we can observe the Earth from different distances, one day, and record what happened on our planet at any given time in the past. All truth in the history of the Earth could come to light then.
I am sure that the history of the human race, at least, is recorded in our DNA memory genes in its precise detail.
So don’t look back.
Look forward,
Only then
the past will be revealed to us.
Earth Piece VII
Think of the Earth
as a turning point in eternity.
Think of the Earth
as a meeting point in infinity.
Check if there are any holes
in your shoes.
Tie your shoelaces.
Earth Piece VIII
Imagine two billion universes.
Visualize yourself on a planet in each universe.
Imagine what all of you are doing and thinking
at this moment in time on the different planets.
Think if the activities are correlated amongst all of you.
Think how those activities are affecting the balance
of the infinite space.
Earth Piece IX
The Earth is like your mate
you have abused and ignored.
Ask to be forgiven.
Tell the Earth how much you care.
Tell the Earth how beautiful she is.
Tell the Earth you love her.
Earth Piece X
Dream Earth.
Dream you.
Dream eternity.
City Piece I
Find a spot that is comfortable for you.
Keep the spot clean.
Think about the spot when you are away.
City Piece II
Walk from where you live to where your friend lives.
Be aware of the turns and the views while you walk.
Walk back the same way.
Be aware of the turns and the views your friend experiences
when he or she visits you.
City Piece III
Count all the puddles on the street
when the sky is blue.
City Piece IV
Imagine tying balloons to the roof
of every building in the city.
Let the balloons wave to the breeze.
See if the buildings are lighter for it.
City Piece V
Imagine painting all the buildings in the city
the colour of light.
City Piece VI
Imagine the city getting greener and greener
with plants, vines, trees and green fields.
City Piece VII
Imagine the largest rainbow
going from north to south.
Visit the two ends of the rainbow.
City Piece VIII
Carry everything you own with you.
Go shopping, or climb a mountain.
See if you can see where you are going.
City Piece IX
On Flag Day,
put out a flag that has a message
that conveys your emotion: such as
“I LOVE YOU,” “YES!” and “HELP!”
See what happens.
City Piece X
Imagine one day in a month
when only bicycles and walking
are allowed in the city as transportation.
Make that two days.
Make that a week.
Make that a month.
Connection Piece I
Whisper your name to a pebble.
Give it to a friend
instead of yourself.
Connection Piece II
Imagine your friends being without the baggage
you know them by.
See how you feel about them then.
a) You can relate to them better.
b) They cease to be interesting.
Think which of their baggage you are connected to.
Connection Piece III
In the evening before sunset,
go as far as you can from where you reside
without losing its view.
Watch it for a while.
Think of all the things that happened in there,
and the many miles you walked inside the rooms.
One day, you may move away from it.
One day, you may pass away from there.
Be kind to yourself this evening.
a) Buy something for yourself.
b) Treat yourself to a meal.
c) Look at the mirror and give a smile to yourself.
Connection Piece IV
I was asked to create a special edition work for Samtidskunst Museum in Roskilde, Denmark as part of my one woman show.
So I made an edition of glass keys called, “A key to open a faded memory” and gave it to the museum.
When I arrived in Roskilde, to my surprise, I was presented with “The Key to Heaven.”
It was a beautifully carved metal key which had been made many centuries ago by the Vikings of the town.
a) Was this a mere coincidence?
b) Was this a psychic connection made by the fact that we are all together, anyway?
c) Was I just tapping into my ancestral memory through
the memory genes in my DNA?
d) Was I in Roskilde myself, in one of the many reincarnations?
Give us an example of your experience of a coincidence.
Give us your view on it.
Connection Piece V
How do you connect with people the most?
With the feeling of:
Curiosity
Interest
Forgiveness
Adoration
Competition
Envy
Fear
Control
Detachment
Re
jection
Make a list of people around you and see how it comes out.
Ask yourself if you are comfortable with the way you connect.
Don’t simplify the situation by just saying “I love/hate them all.”
Connection Piece VI
Swim as far as you can in your dream. Away from:
your home
your mate
your children
your pets
your belongings
your work place
your colleagues
See if you drown or survive.
Watch Piece I
Watch a hundred-year-old tree breathe.
Thank the tree in your mind for showing us
how to grow and stay.
Watch Piece II
Watch a fly slowly dying on the windowsill.
Watch its movement and how long it takes
for it to become completely still.
Thank the fly, in your mind,
for showing what you may go through
one day.
Watch Piece III
Go outside of you.
Look at yourself walking down the street.
Make yourself tumble on a stone and fall.
Watch it.
Watch other people looking.
Observe carefully how you fall,
how long it takes and in what rhythm you fall.
Observe as seeing a black-and-white slow-motion film.
Look at yourself rising from the fall.
See how long it takes you to start rising, how you stand
and what you do afterwards.
Observe it as seeing a Technicolor film.
Watch Piece IV