ABSTRACT Title of Document: MASS MEDIA IS THE MESSAGE: YOKO ONO AND JOHN LENNON’S 1969 YEAR OF PEACE Martha Ann Bari, PhD., 2007 Directed By: Assistant Professor Renée Ater, Department of Art History and Archaeology In 1969, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, multimedia artist Yoko Ono and rock star John Lennon instigated a series of idiosyncratic artistic events designed to spread a universal message of peace. What all these events had in common was the couple’s keen desire to act as catalysts for change and their willingness to exploit their own celebrity to do so. They had just survived a scandalous year in London in a fishbowl of publicity where the popular press savaged Ono and Lennon’s love affair and resulting separate divorces. Dealing with the insatiable media had become part of their everyday lives. Why not use this pervasive attention to publicize their own cause and carry their message of peace throughout the world? This simple premise launched a private peace campaign whose artistic message has achieved cult status in our popular culture. This dissertation examines how Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s 1969 Year of Peace unfolded, how the media covered it at the time, and how people remember it today. By considering the couple's art events within the context of the 1960s and then following the path of certain images as they wend their way to the present, Ono and Lennon’s art acts as a core sample of sixties culture and its legacy. My study situates this artwork against the backdrop of Lennon’s megawatt rock star celebrity, within the spirit of Fluxus (of which Ono was a founding member), and in the context of the anti-war movement of the time. In a larger cultural sense, I use Ono and Lennon’s art as a touchstone to explore ideas about gender and ethnicity, the sixties counterculture, the language of everyday life, the nature of celebrity, the psychology of marketing, the role of mass media in society, and the control and manipulation of imagery. MASS MEDIA IS THE MESSAGE: YOKO ONO AND JOHN LENNON’S 1969 YEAR OF PEACE By Martha Ann Bari Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Advisory Committee: Assistant Professor Renée Ater, Chair Professor June Hargrove Professor Martha Nell Smith Professor Sally M. Promey Professor Emerita Josephine Withers The dissertation document that follows has had referenced material removed in respect for the owner’s copyright. A complete version of this document, which includes said referenced material, resides in the University of Maryland, College Park’s library collection. © Copyright by Martha Ann Bari 2007 Dedication In memory of my precious parents, Ruth and Arthur Bari. ii iii Acknowledgements A dear friend once told me, “It takes a village to write a dissertation,” and in retrospect, I can think of no better way to describe the process of bringing this work to fruition. I am extremely grateful to the Department of Art History and Archaeology, my friends, my colleagues, and my family for the steadfast encouragement I received throughout the time it took to research and write this manuscript. A key player in ushering me through this process has been my advisor Reneé Ater, who deserves special credit for her determined and unfailing support. Her benevolent professionalism made her ideal to work with, while her analytical skills and intellectual rigor were a source of inspiration to me. My study of Yoko Ono began in a graduate art history seminar entitled “Feminist Interventions in the Production of Art,” taught by Josephine Withers. The research for the term paper I wrote in this class on Ono’s Cut Piece sparked a lifelong fascination with her artwork. I am indebted to Withers for her encouragement as I continued my research. She remained by my side first in her role as my advisor in the early stages of this dissertation and then as a valuable member of my dissertation committee. Thank you, as well, to the other members of my outstanding committee, Sally Promey, June Hargrove, and Martha Nell Smith, who graciously rearranged their schedules on short notice to accommodate my defense and brought to the table insightful and inventive critiques of this material that have sharpened and deepened its meaning and purpose, I also would like to extend my gratitude to Peter Watkins and Carolee Schneemann for their collegiality and generous responses to my inquiries. Peter ii Watkins went well beyond the call of duty in unpacking boxes after a move in search of a copy of a crucial letter required for my research. I’m thankful to Carolee Schneemann for her engrossing interviews and follow up phone calls in which she shared her experiences as a woman artist during the 1960s. With great respect and fondness, I also wish to pay tribute to Ann Truitt, who taught me in her graduate seminars the joys and difficulties of artistic expression, and who, when we last met, very deliberately set about recounting her memories of the sixties New York art scene for the benefit of this dissertation. The tragedies, illnesses, and deaths that have affected my life during these last ten years have made it very difficult to proceed quickly to the finish line. I am overwhelmed by the great show of loyalty and confidence my family and friends have given me throughout this time. Although too numerous to mention in such a short acknowledgment, I am thankful to all those who have made a difference in the quality of my life as a scholar. Two friends, however, must be acknowledged by name—Gail Gorlitzz and Wendy Grossman—both of whom were my protectors, guides, and comrades-in-arms at all the right moments (including at 2:00 in the morning) as I neared completion of this manuscript. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my dear husband Mike DiPirro for his patience, unfaltering love, and continuous support that has always sustained me and given me strength, iii Table of Contents Dedication.....................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements......................................................................................................iii Table of Contents...........................................................................................................v List of Illustrations................................................................................................,,......vi Chapter 1: Introduction..................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Coming Together.......................................................................................18 Chapter 3: Calculating the Media................................................................................72 Chapter 4: Engaging the Media...................................................................................99 Chapter 5: Conclusion...............................................................................................155 Bibliography..............................................................................................................162 Illustrations................................................................................................................185 iv List of Illustrations 1.1. Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Bed-in for Peace, event at the Amsterdam Hilton hotel, March 25-30, 1969. 1.2. Yoko Ono and John Lennon, War Is Over! billboard installed at Picadilly Circus, London, December 1969. 1.3. Collection of psychedelic posters circa 1967 mostly created by Michael English (left) and Nigel Waymouth (center) known as “Hapshash and the Coloured Coat” for the Osiris agency. Also pictured is Guy Stevens (right). 2.1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover designed by British Pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, Capitol Records, 1967. 2.2. Yoko Ono, Sly TV, 1966. Closed circuit video installation. 2.3. Yoko Ono, Eternal Time Clock, 1965. Battery-run gilded clock with second hand only and stethoscope. 2.4. Yoko Ono demonstrating Ceiling Painting (Yes Painting), Indica Gallery, London, 1966. 2.5. Yoko Ono, Painting to Hammer a Nail, 1966 (13-3/4” x 10-1/2” x 4-1/2”). 2.6. Yoko Ono and John Lennon, 2 Virgins album sleeve, covered and uncovered. 2.7. Guerilla Art Action Group. “Blood Bath” demonstration at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1969. 2.8. Frasier Doughtery, Jon Hendricks, and Irving Petlin, Q:; And Babies? A: And Babies, 1970, offset lithograph (24 x 35-1/2”). 2.9. Ad Reinhardt, No War (1967). Lithograph, 26-1/4 x 21-1/4 inches, private collection, New York. 2.10. Filmstrip from No. 4 (Bottoms), 1966. 2.11. Street scene at the opening of John Lennon’s solo show You Are Here, Robert Fraser Gallery, London, July 1, 1968. 2.12. Tags attached to the balloons at the opening, and an example of one of the lapel buttons distributed at John Lennon’s You Are Here show, Robert Fraser Gallery, London, July 1-August 3, 1968. v 2.13. Gallery view of John Lennon’s You Are Here show, Robert Fraser Gallery, London, July 1-August 3,1968. 2.14. View of some of the donation boxes installed at John Lennon’s You Are Here show, Robert Fraser Gallery, London, July 1-August 3, 1968. 2.15. Hat and glass jar with buttons from John Lennon’s You Are Here show, Robert Fraser Gallery, London, July 1-August 3,1968. 2.16. View inside fedora hat entitled “For the Artist. Thank You,” from John Lennon’s You Are Here show, Robert Fraser Gallery,