Marginalization as Use: Race & Gender in the Work of Yoko Ono

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Abstract

In this paper, I trace the moments in Yoko Ono's career during the 1960's that were born of her positioning as a double other, both woman and Japanese. Rather than suppressing that marginality, I set out how Ono confronts and utilizes it in her work. Her work has consistently spoken to the place of women in society. Her incorporation of Japanese Zen Buddhist philosophies fueled the intentions of her art while emphasizing her otherness when working in New York and London. Finally, this paper discusses how these condition lead to considerations of the artist's own hybrid identity.