Gallery 105
Thoughts That Crop Up
In Japanese temples, you can often see scraps of paper hanging from trees. From a distance, they look like hundreds of blooming flowers, but close up, they are wishes written by worshippers.
Since her early years as a conceptual artist, Yoko Ono (b. 1933) included ideas and thoughts as essential elements in her work, in the idea that actions, no matter how simple or ambitious, emerge from the desire to transform those who are part of them. Thus, the artist seeks to induce change in the people who attend her events and concerts, Instructions, or participate in her performances and the imaginary works that are part of her wide creative corpus.
A living work of art
Inspired by Japanese traditions, Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Bilbao feeds on viewers’ active involvement. It is their collaboration that keeps the tree alive. There are more Wish Trees by Ono in other countries, as part of her continuing campaign for world peace. The trees gather the wishes written down by visitors on the days selected by the artist. Then, the wishes are left hanging on the tree like offerings.