Grapefruit

Tokyo: Wunternaum Press, 1964. First edition of Yoko Ono’s self-published first book, one of 500 stated copies (though likely fewer) printed, preceding the first trade edition by six years. This copy was inscribed by Ono at the March 10, 1966 opening of The Stone, the New York Fluxus group show in which she played a central role: “To Helen, / 1966, opening / Judson Church Gallery / NYC, NY / Yoko Ono.” Grapefruit collects instructions for Ono’s early conceptual art pieces, organized under the headings of Music, Painting, Event, Poetry, and Object. Some works can be enacted by readers, like Shadow Piece: “Put your shadows together until they become one.” Others can be realized only in the imagination. The directions for Clock Piece read: “Make all the clocks in the world fast by two seconds without letting anyone know about it.” Wind Piece instructs: “Blow hats all over the city.” Fly Piece demands of the artist: “Fly.” Ono inscribed this copy at the opening of The Stone, the 1966 Fluxus performance art event organized by her then-husband, art promoter Anthony Cox. Jon Hendricks, the manager of Judson Gallery, recalls that The Stone “was really written by a group of us: Michael Mason, who created repeated loop sounds; and Yoko Ono, who had done eye bags and questionnaires. You would come down into the gallery and fill out a questionnaire, then you would be given a bag, take your shoes off, and then you would be in this room. The gallery was small and the room was smaller. Jeff Perkins did film messages, which were looped films that repeated. This became a famous event in art history.” Ono’s “eye bags” were black cotton sacks into which visitors would crawl: the loosely woven fabric allowed attendees to see and hear the performance, while concealing their faces and bodies, transforming each person into a “stone.” The title of the Judson Gallery show echoes Ono’s famous artist’s statement of the same year, discussing her Cut Piece, in which she knelt on stage beside a pair of scissors, inviting the audience to cut away pieces of her clothing: “People went on cutting the parts they do not like of me finally there was only the stone remained of me that was in me but they were still not satisfied and wanted to know what it’s like in the stone.” Text in English and Japanese. OCLC locates seven institutional holdings in the United States. See also Hendricks, Fluxus Codex. A near-fine copy of a scarce self-published book, inscribed by Yoko Ono at an important installation of her early conceptual art. Perfect-bound volume, measuring 5.5 x 5.5 inches: [354.] Original white wrappers lettered in black. Presentation inscription from Ono on preliminary blank. Wrappers lightly soiled and rubbed. Housed in a custom clamshell box. (Inventory #: 1003686)