2013-2016 | EVOLUTION OF SKYLANDING
In 2013, shortly after her 80th birthday, Yoko Ono was invited to visit the Garden of the Phoenix and the site of the Phoenix Pavilion in Chicago's historic Jackson Park. The Pavilion was a gift from Japan to the people of the United States following the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and was lost to arson in 1946. There, the artist became inspired to create SKYLANDING.
“Upon my first visit to the site the lost Phoenix Pavilion I felt a powerful sense of place. I reflected upon the history of the pavilion’s creation and its destruction. I felt that this is a special place where we can learn from the past to create a future together.” Ono explains.
Yoko Ono worked with Robert Karr, Jr., the Garden of the Phoenix historian, to develop her concept of what would become SKYLANDING.
“Yoko has an extraordinary capability of distilling complex thought into art. SKYLANDING is story, a dialogue, a question, and a statement by Yoko to provoke each and all of us to consider our part in achieving world peace.” Karr explains.
A team of architects, fabricators, and other professionals were assembled to work work with Ono to complete the project. In addition to the sculpture, the project also included work with musicians, dancers, and a digital team to complete music, performance art, and website.
Phase I
(2013-2016)
In January 2015, after multiple visits to the Garden of the Phoenix, Ono awoke to a vision of a lotus - representing rebirth, hope and spiritual awakening - rising from the ashes of the Phoenix Pavilion destroyed by arson in 1946.
As a first step, Ono decided that we must “bring the sky down and cool the land and make it well again. Once healed, we can wake up in a new world. SKYLANDING will mark our new beginning."
On June 15, 2015, Ono held a ground healing ceremony and two large mounds were installed to form the shape of yin and yang where the wings of the Phoenix once spread over the land. This act freed the lotus to rise to the surface to create a space for each of us to walk into, look within ourselves, and realize that world peace and harmony must begin within each of us.
Phase II
(2016)
“Peace, like war and violence, is a choice. We can achieve peace, if each of us want it. What do you want?,” asks Ono.
On October 17, 2016, a 12-petal lotus sculpture rising from the ashes of the Phoenix Pavilion was dedicated on the site, and everyone is invited to answer Ono’s question.
This phase of work also included the CD-release of SKYLANDING Music of Yoko Ono by the Miyumi Project, the launch of skylanding.com 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 (obj. 237641).
The 2015 Ground Healing Ceremony and 2016 dedication of SKYLANIDNG were attended by members of the community, including Rahm Emanuel, Ambassador to Japan (then Mayor of the City of Chicago) and the Consul General of Japan. Music was performed the Miyumi Project and dance by Thodos Dance.
Phase III
Following the 2016 installation, Ono developed the final elements for SKYLANDING.
In 2019, final concepts were completed for the site, which are incorporated into the Vision 2025 Framework Plan for the Garden of the Phoenix.
To complete the SKYLANDING experience, SKYLANDING and the Japanese garden will become one again. Integrated as the lost Phoenix Pavilion and Japanese garden once were.
