Grapefruit is an artist's book written by Yoko Ono, originally published in 1964. It has become famous as an early example of conceptual art, containing a series of "event scores" that replace the physical work of art – the traditional stock-in-trade of artists – with instructions that an individual may, or may not, wish to enact.
Origins of the event score
Event scores were developed by a number of artists attending John Cage's experimental music composition classes at the New School for Social Research in New York. Whilst Ono did not attend these informal lessons, her husband at the time, Toshi Ichiyanagi (an experimental musician), did, and Toshi and Ono became regulars of Cage's circle of friends by 1959. Other members of this group included David Tudor, Morton Feldman, Richard Maxfield and Merce Cunningham. Invention of the event score is usually credited to George Brecht, but La Monte Young and Yoko Ono are also cited as amongst the first to experiment with the form.Yes. Yoko Ono, Harry Abrams 2000, p.18 Both Cage and Brecht were deeply influenced by "Oriental thinking",George Brecht and Ono found that her Buddhist-inspired work was, almost accidentally, fêted by the emerging New York counterculture as avant-garde.
Evolution of the book Often considered a Fluxus artwork, the work was originally published by Ono's own imprint, Wunternaum Press, in Tokyo in an edition of 500. After leaving New York in 1962 – where she had exhibited at Maciunas' AG Gallery, amongst others – her then-husband, Anthony Cox, suggested she collect her scores together. George Maciunas, the central personality in Fluxus, had apparently been trying to reach her in Tokyo with the aim of printing a similar book in New York,Yes. Yoko Ono, Harry Abrams 2000, p.82 as part of his series of Fluxkits (see Water Yam),Other artists he intended to compile included Daniel Spoerri, Allan Kaprow, Dick Higgins and La Monte Young but his letters had not reached her; she sent some of the scores and a prepublication advertisement to be published in his Fluxus newspaper in February 1964 when contact was finally established.
First edition The name Grapefruit was chosen as the title because Ono believed the grapefruit to be a hybrid of an orange and a lemon, and thus a reflection of herself as "a spiritual hybrid."
The first edition that was published in 1964 in Japan by Wunternaum Press, created by Yoko Ono, contains over 150 "instruction works"; virtually all are in English, with about a third translated into Japanese. They are divided into five sections: Music, Painting, Event, Poetry and Object. The instructions are preceded by dedications to figures including John Cage, La Monte Young, Nam June Paik, Isamu Noguchi, and Peggy Guggenheim, and also include documentation relating to Ono's recent exhibitions and performances. The work was originally sold for $3.00 before publication, $6.00 after.
1964 Wunternaum Press. Tokyo, Japan (Paperback)
Subsequent editions The second edition was published in 1970 by Simon & Schuster in New York, Peter Owen Ltd in London, and Bärmeier & Nikel in Frankfurt. As well as an introduction by John Lennon ("Hi! My name is John Lennon. I'd like you to meet Yoko Ono ..."Grapefruit (1970 reissue) In the 2000 reissue of Lennon's 1964 book, In His Own Write, Ono wrote a similar introduction), the work contained 80 more instruction pieces, and included two more sections, Film and Dance. The book ends with a collection of Ono's writings, including To The Wesleyan People, 1966.See http://www.a-i-u.net/yokosays.html Paperback editions were issued by Sphere and Touchstone around the same time, and a reprint by Simon & Schuster in 2000. The Sphere edition has a memorable sleeve, conflating the title with Yoko Ono's film Bottoms, (or no. 4), a film composed exclusively of naked bottoms, made in 1966.
1970 Bärmeier & Nikel. Frankfurt am Main, Germany Peter Owen. London, UK Simon & Schuster. New York, USA (Hardcover with dust jacket) POMELO. Ediciones de la Flor. Buenos Aires, Argentina
1971 Sphere Books. London, UK Simon & Schuster. New York, USA (Paperback) TouchStone Book, USA
2000 Simon & Schuster. New York, USA Bakhåll. Sweden
2004 PAMPLEMOUSSE. Textuel. France
2005 GRAPEFRUIT. INSTRUZIONE PER L'ARTE E PER LA VITA. Mondadori. Italy
2006 POMELO. Centro de Creación Experimental. Cuenca, Spain
2015 Museum of Modern Art. New York, USA. (Facsimile of first edition in slip case.)
Some of the scores PIECES FOR ORCHESTRA
COUGH PIECE
CLOUD PIECE
Painting to exist only when it's copied or photographed
Painting to be constructed in your head
SHOOT 100 PANES OF GLASS
SNOW PIECE
Tunafish sandwich piece
Painting to be stepped on
Influence on "Imagine" Several poems from Grapefruit inspired Lennon while writing the lyrics for "Imagine" in 1971; in particular, "Cloud Piece" which Capitol Records reproduced on the back cover of the original Imagine LP, reading: "Imagine the clouds dripping, dig a hole in your garden to put them in." Shortly before his death, Lennon said the composition "should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of it—the lyric and the concept—came from Yoko, but in those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted her contribution, but it was right out of Grapefruit, her book. There's a whole pile of pieces about ‘Imagine this’ and ‘Imagine that’." In 2017, Yoko Ono received a co-writing credit.
Sequel
Initially a sequel, Grapefruit II, was planned. It is mentioned once in Grapefruit and had a pre-publication price of $5 and a post-release price of $10.Ono, Yoko (1964). Grapefruit. It was planned to be released in 1966 but was cancelled. Ono stated that it would contain 150 new pieces not featured in Grapefruit, including her "touch poems".
In July 2013, Ono released Grapefruit'''s sequel, called Acorn, another book of "instructional poems".
See also Instructions for Paintings (1961–62)
References
External links Interview with Ono about Fluxus
Acorn (publisher's catalog's page). Sequel to Grapefruit''. 2013.