Over at Artist’s Books and Multiples, we came across Yoko Ono’s A Box of Smile from 1971.
Boxes (mostly hinged) that each contain a small mirror so that the viewer completes the piece upon seeing his or her reflection.
It reminded us of the many kind of conceptual vessels that can hold ideas for us and give us experiences. Like the instructions from Fluxus‘ (the avant-garde art movement of which Ono was a part in the 1960s and 1970s) Daily Do It Yourself Instructions:
Instructions:
1. Identify the happiest feeling of the day.
2. Put it in a jar.
3. Switch it if something happier happens.
I have a jar of air from outside my parents long-gone beauty of a house on the southwest coast of Ireland. Captured in that jar is the air from a very specific time and place that will never be again.
My friend Irene, gone now many years, lived in a log cabin with Zeit und Raum Ist Alles painted over the door, which meant:
Time and Space is All
Before I knew Irene, I’d stop at that strange little cabin and wonder at the sign that said EVERYTHING: A cabin full of time and space.
Shall we take a cue from Yoko in her Fluxus days…
…and make our own conceptual jar(s) or box(s) of…
SMILE
JOY
GRATITUDE
DREAMS
_________
(fill in blank)
Hi Improvised Life! I thought you might be interested in this video on what Jim Carey has been up to in recent years. It is a wonderful contemplation on the mindfulness of color. https://vimeo.com/226379658
Please tell us more about Irene and that cabin. Many thanks from a devoted reader in Tucson.
Sö nice.
Thanks for “letting one of your smiles out”.
We really enjoy this one.
(again!)
gallagher
Perfect, thank you so much. I’ve turned it into a post…
One of the most original people I’ve ever met. But it will take some steam to describe her. Soon.
Yes, I guess all these strange little bits I write really are…smiles of a sort.