Ono - Acorn

Yoko Ono Acorn ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL 2013 Introduction Its 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 its being published in book form. Im riding a time machine thats going back to the old ways! Great! I added my dot drawings to give you further brainwork. Im 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. Thats 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.

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. 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. Sky Piece V Autumn Imagine running across a wheat field as fast as you can. 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 its clouded, see if there are any blue spots. If its clear, see if there are any clouds. If its stormy, look out for thunder and lightning.

Sky Piece VI Winter Watch the sun until it comes into your body and stays as a tiny sun. 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.

Each time we raise our foot from the ground, 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 theres 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.