WAR IS OVER!

Hello lovelies, I'm back !!

On the 23rd of Feb my friends Tara and Fiona and I decided to visit the Yoko Ono exhibition entitled WAR IS OVER! If you want it at the MCA in Sydney. :) 

This was a collection of artworks spanning five decades of Ono's best works and I was so happy to be able to see it all for myself.

The stairs leading up to the MCA were freakin cool omg but it was so hard to get a photo without a million people in it HAHAH

There was a beautiful montage on one of the walls when we first came in:

I'll try and keep it short and sweet but these are some of my personal favourites from the exhibition! 

This amazing wall calligraphy installation was done with a massive brush by Yoko when she came to Sydney - this video entails the process of creation and the most profound meaning behind the piece.

Water Talk

 This beautiful piece, which encompassed a whole wall of bottles labeled with many historical figures' names on them, was one of my favourites. To me, this installation told me that we are all the same people inside, all equal and beautiful, and the only thing that really differentiates us is our "name" or label, in this case.

It kind of reminds me also of George Orwell's book Animal Farm, where the catchphrase is "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." I think this artwork makes direct reference to things such as racial and gender equality issues, where people repeatedly fail to see that we are all the same in the end.

Another one of my favourites: this was a series of silicon sculptures depicting a naked female body. Viewers were asked to wet their fingertips and "touch" the body. This piece was particularly confronting to me as it was intended by Ono to depict the utter horror of rape and sexual abuse of women during the war which she witnessed as a young girl. The sculptures were damaged in places and I saw that one of the toes was missing from the feet. I also remember reading that when this piece was being displayed in London, the artwork got damaged (as was apparent) and instead of getting the works repaired, Yoko Ono requested that it be left alone, sending yet another message of the irrevocable and life-changing damage that an ordeal such as that could impact upon the victim.  

Sorry the photo's kinda overexposed...

I loved this particular installation! It was probably my favourite. Everyone was invited to stamp "IMAGINE PEACE" - there were several different languages in which you could do this - on a place they loved. It was beautiful seeing the darkened areas around major cities and all that :)

This was another really lovely interactive artwork - it was called My Mommy Is Beautiful and visitors were asked to write letters to their mothers and to tape it to the wall. 

Yoko Ono is quoted as saying, "...I don't think I gave enough credit to my mother." 

Upon further reflection, do any of us give enough credit to our mothers?

It was really lovely even just reading all the letters, which ranged from heartbreaking to uplifting.

A Piece of Sky

I loved the message Yoko Ono wrote near the artwork, "Take a piece of the sky and know that we are all part of each other." 

There were several floating helmets around the room filled with jigsaw pieces of the sky. :)

Tara, Fiona and I

Mend Piece

This was another really great interactive piece where we all were encouraged to try and glue/tie/stick together broken ceramic pieces. It reminded me of a quote that goes something like, "Mosaics are made from broken pieces but they are still works of art," and I think the inherent meaning in that is so poignant and synonymous with this artwork. 

I guess we are all charged with the goal of mending the world and making it a better place in our own little ways.

I loved this one: we were all asked to write a place where we wished to go and stick it in one of the many suitcases lying around. 

I couldn't think of anywhere specific so I kinda just wrote..

Cut Piece

These were videos in which Ono displayed herself in front of a massive audience and allowed them to cut off pieces of her best clothing. I can't really remember the specific significance of it but I liked it anyway. :)

Though she apparently did break up the Beatles, I absolutely loved this exhibition and I love all the things that Yoko Ono stands for, especially her ideas on peace and messages about human nature and experience. All her artwork had so much significance and it was beautiful being able to witness that part of her and her life experiences being shared with us all.

Last but not least.....

Tara and I finally stumbled across Angel Place!!! We'd only ever seen it in photos and it was so cool to have finally found it (credit to me for being the one to actually spot it)!!!!

It's so pretty ahhhhhhhh I took so many photos of it hahahahah

Hope you enjoyed this post and I hope it wasn't too long.. D: It was a real good day!

What I wore:

• Top from Kirribilli Markets ($1 omg its my favourite)
• Hello Kitty bag from markets in the Philippines ($1.50 ahh)
• GAP denim skirt from markets in the Philippines
• Creepers from eBay

Love y'all !

Sera x