Yoko Ono to Repeat Naked Appeal for World Peace

The Independent (UK) ^ | September 6, 2003 | Ian Burrell, Media and Culture Correspondent

[Bon mots]

For the first time in nearly 40 years, Yoko Ono is to perform one of her art "happenings" in which she invites her audience to cut off her clothing until she is naked on stage.

Ono, the widow of John Lennon, first performed the conceptual work Cut Piece as a peace protest in Japan in 1964.

At the age of 70, she is to repeat the protest in Paris later this month because of growing political tension in the world.

During the original stunt she took to the stage in a white gown, wielding a pair of scissors. Members of the audience were invited up to cut off the garment, piece by piece, while she remained motionless until she was left naked.

The original performance predated her relationship with Lennon but became one of her most notorious conceptual pieces. It was not the last time she appeared naked - she famously posed without clothes alongside her husband for the album Two Virgins.

Ono, who will perform at the Theatre Le Ranelagh, said she would ask the audience to cut off her clothing and "send it to the one you love".

Ono has used a variety of media for peace protests including billboards, demonstrations, the "Bed-In", films and records. She recently used a board overlooking Piccadilly Circus in London for a peace message.

She said she was moved to act because of political changes since the terror attacks in America on 11 September 2001. She said: "Force and intimidation were in the air. People were silenced. Cut Piece is my hope for World Peace. When I first performed this work, in 1964, I did it with some anger and turbulence in my heart.

"This time I do it with love for you, for me, and for the world."

[Bon mots]

What's yellow, ugly and lives off of dead Beatles?
I wouldn't have wanted to see her naked when she was 20, never mind when she's 70. YUCK!

[Rodney King]

Nasty. Please spare us the pictures.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Ew. My EYES! MY EYES! This is so gross!!!!

She's always been UGLY and GROSS!!!

[prisoner6]

My eyes...MY EYES!...FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I'M BLIND!

prisoner6

[DoctorMichael]

At the age of 70, she is to repeat the protest in Paris la.............

Unfortunately, owing to her favorable statistical attributes, female and oriental, we may have 30 MORE years of this crap to endure.

[TomServo]

Already posted here.

[God luvs America]

This could work to our advantage...show the pictures to
Al-Queda and they'll most assuredly commit suicide..or in the case of Yoko: hari-kari!

[GaltMeister]

Yikes - massive, projectile hurl alert!

[GaltMeister]

I always thought it was 'hairy canary' LOL

[thoughtomator]

FZ had her pegged perfectly in Playground Psychotics... if you ever get a chance to pick this gem up, check out the track named "A small eternity with Yoko Ono".

[Southern California]

For the love of Mike, can't anyone persuade her not to do this? Oh the inhumanity of it all!

[.cnI redruM]

BWAAHHHH!!! Please, let me get my contacts out before you post the JPEGs.

[Focault's Pendulum]

Somebody call PETA.....beavers all over the world are hanging their heads in shame.

[InvisibleChurch]

well, no one can fight if their eyes are gouged out

[RightWhale]

Did she threaten to do this often? Tough choice, peace or Yoko.

[Russian Sage]

This could work to our advantage...show the pictures to Al-Queda..

... and tell them they each got 70 waiting in paradise.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I had a simlar thought. At 20-30 she was bestial; and, at 70!!!!!!!!

[tom h]

Yoko Ono is and always has been an arrogant twit. She wasn't beautiful or appealing, even when clothed, at age 30 when she married John. I shudder to think what she would look like now.

[wizardoz]

Behold, I present to you an ego even more profoundly massive than perhaps any seen thus far.

[Optimist]

Nasty. Please spare us the pictures.

Ahhh...you're no fun....

INSTEAD - corrected title....

Yoko Ono to Repeat Naked Appeal for World Peace
NAKED Yoko Ono to REPEL Appeal for World Peace

[John Lenin]

[lowbridge]

Put it on! Put it on!

[LibKill]

Not appealing at all.

[kuma]

World Peace won't happen but Hurled Peas definitely will!

[joesnuffy]

The face that launched a thousand
lunches

[mtbopfuyn]

Maybe not world peace but she'll definitely bring the world together to stop the horror.

[SkyPilot]

[berkeleybeej]

Doesn't she know this is soooo 20th century.

[weegee]

Why doesn't she go to Mecca and make this appeal? Crowd too hostile there to share in her protest of war and violence?

[weegee]

This article neglects to mention the exploitation film that a young Yoko Ono appeared in, Satan's Bed (there is supposed to be a fair amount of nudity in this film but I don't know if Yoko is among the naked cast):

Satan's Bed (1h:12m:11s)
The main feature here is a choppy 1965 sex and crime thriller from Marshall Smith that stars Yoko Ono. The story is loosely centered around Yoko as a mail-order bride arriving in New York to meet her new husband, a drug-dealing, immigration agent. In true sexploitation style, this flick appears to be cobbled together with parts of another film, as the exploits of the drug-addled trio of Snake, Dip and Angel seem glaringly out of place. Yoko is kidnapped by a pudgy drug lord, and the three druggies proceed to go on a spree of rape and murder that seems totally unrelated to the rest of the film.

Smith focuses on plenty of leering female nudity, whether it be someone showering, or drying themselves off after a vigorous swim. Some edgy—for the time—lesbianism crops up near the climax, and culminates in a wonderfully downbeat ending. This is a tough one to watch, but not nearly as bad as Scare Their Pants Off. Marshall pads the runtime with a lot of silent passages that do little to add to the story, and he's never more than a few minutes away from another dose of gratuitous nudity.

SATAN'S BED

It's Yoko Ono's film debut - in a sleazy adults-only S+M drug movie, partially made by Roberta and Michael Findlay (SNUFF). Michael was the photographer and editor and Roberta acted and did the lighting. SATAN'S BED is really an earlier "unfinished" feature called JUDAS CITY by "Tamijian" with new footage and characters edited in. Yoko (in a kimono) shows up in New York to marry Paulie, who wants out of the drug business. She can't speak English and he's preoccupied, so she's taken to a filthy cheap hotel room. A gangster (in the concrete business) rapes her on the floor (off screen). He take her to his penthouse and rapes her again. Interwoven with this (JUDAS CITY) footage is the sick tale of Snake, Dip and Angel, addicts in black clothes, who look like part of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable show. The first line heard is "I'd like to take his needle and shove it in his greedy mouth." They roam around tying up women (Angel helps), and raping them. Finally a Long Island housewife with a gun escapes from the doped up trio and footage of Yoko escaping is intercut. SATAN'S BED was released about the same time as HELP!