Yoko Ono’s SKYLANDING

“I want the sky to land here, to cool it, and make it well again.” Inspired this line, Yoko Ono designed this sculptural piece in order to signify a call for peace and tranquility. The sculpture includes twelve stainless steel lotus petals in different ranges of motion, spread out from the center. Located in the Garden of Phoenix on Jackson Island in Chicago, this piece takes the same place as the Phoenix Pavillion, built in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exchange, that was burnt down in an act of vandalism in 1946. This piece transforms the environment, giving off an ethereal and soft aura to the whole island.

Traveling across oceans and skies from outbreaks of war since a young child, Yoko Ono has always felt a strong connection to the sky and natural elements. Escaping the Tokyo Bombings in 1945, she and her brother would lie on their backs, looking to the sky for strength and constancy. Ono wants to establish that same connection and a sense of belonging for the visitors; that the sky and earth can always be source a strength and hope in the worst of times. It is a statement against the violence that has and will plague the world and a call for better times that will bring us back to roots of our humanity.

The website for SKYLANDING allows people to leave their wishes, whether it be a personal prayer for love, or a more general wish for peace in the world. It only adds to the beauty and hope that the sculpture emanates.

Cleansing Phoenix Pavillion and its violent past, SKYLANDING is a permanent installment to Jackson Island. And maybe, it’s cleansing will slowly spread to the rest of the world.

Works Cited

“SKYLANDING by Yoko Ono.” Project 120 Chicago, www.project120chicago.org/plans_projects/p2-skylanding.

www.skylanding.com/.

“Yoko Ono Unveils Sculpture In Japanese Garden At Jackson Park.” CBS Chicago, 17 Oct. 2016, chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/10/17/yoko-ono-unveils-sculpture-in-japanese-garden-at-jackson-park/.

 

Found in NYU Bobst Main Collection:

Acorn by Yoko Ono (PR6065.N6 A66 2013b)

Grapefruit: a book of instructions + drawings by Yoko Ono (PR6065.N6 G7 2000)

New York rock by Yoko Ono (ML50.O58 N4 1994)

 

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