2016 | SKYLANDING by Yoko Ono
SKYLANDING is a place where the sky and earth meet and create a seed to learn about the past and come together to create a future of peace and harmony, with nature and each other. - YOKO ONO
Ono’s intention during its conception was to invite visitors to walk into the center of the lotus and to look within ourselves and realize that peace and harmony begins within each of us.
This project included the CD-release of SKYLANDING Music of Yoko Ono and the installation at The Art Institute of Chicago of MENDED PETAL, the 13th lotus petal designed by the artist to commemorate the ground healing.
Additional elements for SKYLANDING conceived by the artist are planned.
YOKO ONO
Born in Tokyo in 1933, Yoko Ono is an artist, poet, musician, and peace activist. Since the early 1960's audience participation and social activism have been crucial aspects of her work.
Ono is widely regarded as a pioneer of early conceptual, film, and performance art and for her involvement in the Fluxus movement. She collaborated on art and musical projects with her husband John Lennon until his death in 1980. In recent years, Ono has focused on environmental protection and human rights.
SKYLANDING in the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park, Chicago, is the first permanent work of art by Yoko Ono in the Americas, and a marker of her place as an artist of profound international influence and her lifelong mission for world peace.
SKYLANDING brings the artist's personal sense of hopefulness for humanity to the public at large. Her intention during its conception was to invite visitors to walk into the center of the lotus that rises from the ashes of the Phoenix Pavilion destroyed by arson in 1946 to look within ourselves and realize that peace and harmony begins within each of us.
The composition of SKYLANDING is a spatial experience that emerges from the past to form a new universal order. It radiates out from the center in four directions and appears strong, elegant, and approachable. With no extraneous detail, it is honest and true to itself. Layers of visual dynamism show space expanding to create an alignment of visualize form, space, and light.
As you walk through the petals, there is a tension between imperfect form and diversity of form, and the layout heightens the experience and balance of the piece. The two landforms placed at the north and south flow through the lotus and take the shape of yin-yang, or two primal opposing but complimentary forces found in all things in the universe.
Robert W. Karr, Jr., The Garden of the Phoenix Foundation
EXPLORE SKYLANDING DETAILS
ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
SKYLANDING was made possible through the generous donations by
Bernard Delgiorno
Joyce Chelberg
Special thanks and gratitude to the architects, fabricators, engineers, construction team, artists and other professionals who worked on the project, including
wHY
Vector
Mortenson
Heritage Landscapes
The Miyumi Project
Thodos Dance
The Garden of the Phoenix Foundation
Project 120 Chicago
Studio One
City of Chicago, Mayor’s Office
Chicago Park District
Jackson Park Advisory Council
The Art Institute of Chicago
The University of Chicago