Wish Tree (2012)

Hang the paper on the wish tree

Ask a friend to do the same

Keep wishing.

I rather like it when galleries stop visitors from taking photographs. Of course, if every gallery applied that rule then blogging could become a wee difficult...
Basically, I liked that cameras are a no-go at Yoko Ono's retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery. The exhibition was PACKED last Sunday afternoon, so to explore it without hearing the snapping of 27 SLRs in your immediate environment made it feel quite a breezy few hours.

I wish all wishes were like this one.

I never really knew much about Yoko Ono's presence in the art world until a few years ago- a brief stint undertaking some archiving work experience at The Bluecoat one winter I ended up learning loads about her brilliant relationship with them. Seeing her work at The Serpentine was really interesting and different. I had no idea what to expect, but some of her work still surprised me somehow.

An incredibly clever work that I really liked was Ceiling Painting, conceived in 1966. It's placed in the centre of one of the first galleries you see. It consists on a ladder, covered in a quick layer of white emulsion. On the ceiling directly above the ladder sits a silver frame, with a rather large magnifying glass affixed to one of the picture frame's bolts. It (the magnifying glass) hangs loosely, almost reaching one of the top of the ladder steps. The step that it touches has 'FLY' written upon it in embossed letter tape, which you can practically grasp with your hand.
I avert my eyes to just behind the glass lens and notice that there's a small inscription in the centre of the picture frame! I focus my eyes a little more... (NB: for someone who's never had an eye test in my life, my vision is bloody fantastic) ... and see that Yoko Ono has etched 3 letters in black ink. Yes

If you can't quite visualise any of that, then I'm sorry. If I get enough emails about it then I'll upload a drawing...



Ahhh, and this year's pavilion is the epitome of cool. Now in its twelfth year, this year's chosen design is by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei to create this. A brilliant space, it plays with the idea of thinking about the space beneath the gallery, rather than just using scraping the surface slightly. Weirdly enough, it's so well integrated that if you were unaware of its temporary state, you would assume it had always been part of The Serpentine's serene landscape...

Image © Iwan Baan

Labels: AAD, Ai Weiwei, ART DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, Hyde Park Cycling, Ono Retrospective, Serpentine Gallery, Serpentine Pavilion, Sunday in Hyde Park, Yoko Ono