I recall the day this photo was taken many moons ago!
Imagine Peace Tower
Today I was flattered to learn that Yoko Ono is following my blog posts on twitter!
If you're out there, Ms. Plastic Ono Band, welcome aboard my wacky POP CULTURE world.
After I received an e-mail informing me of the fact, I clicked on a link to determine what the celebrated Ms. Ono is up to these days.
Her last big media event involved the "Light Sculpture" in Iceland in the honor of the memory of her former husband, John Lennon, which I always report on at this site each year.
Once again, Yoko touched us with a shining idea that was way beyond the realm of most artists' fundamental creative vision!
Actually, Yoko and I came up with a similar conceptual idea years ago - while thousands of miles apart and strangers to each other - which still astounds me today when I reflect on it.
It was during my struggling lettuce & salad artist days, when I was prone to dabble with off-the-wall far-flung artsy-fartsy ideas.
One day, for instance, I constructed a small wooden box with a mirror inside it.
When a curiosity-seeker opened up the innocuous-looking package, they'd end up gazing into their own reflection, unexpectedly.
Did the interactive piece of conceptual art touch them in anyway?
Were they pleased with the image before them?
Shortly after I unveiled that piece in one of my first art exhibitions, I was watching television one day - and nearly fell out of my chair onto the floor - when Yoko appeared on a talk show and withdrew a small box out of her bag.
Without explanation, she handed it over to the host to peer into.
The former Mrs. Lennon had created a box of "smile" along the lines of my own creation, around the same time frame, and without the two of us ever having been in touch!
Of course, it verified my long-held belief that artists are visionaries capable of tapping into a "creative bank of ideas" from the very cosmos, to make an artistic statement about society, love, life, whatever.
Some artists are more tuned in than others, though.
That is where the old expression - "he was ahead of his time" - comes into play.
No, not ahead of time, just tapped into the idea bank sooner than everyone else!
I also believe there is a brotherhood of artists who travel throughout time.
The spirit of a "dead" painter or composer, for example, can imbue a living artist with their creative energy and influence their work in the current realm of existence on the Earth plane.
Ultimately, the visionaries and the artists are meant to shape man's destiny.
Artists envision a futuristic society, for instance, and the scientists make the visions a reality.
Don't you agree, Yoko?
Funny Ms. Yoko should be in touch, today.
In a post about the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, I noted that I won a battle against Uncle Sam, at long last.
At that time, I was inclined to chuckle in that post, that John Lennon must be smiling from his grave (since he had a much-publicized bitter fight with the U.S. Government to get into the United States decades ago).
But, I begged off.
Meanwhile, as I now pen a post about artists and visionaries, Yoko is engaged in more practical matters at hand.
In her latest post, Ms. Ono is urging that people give the gift of water this Valentine's Day.
Why water?
Right now, according to research online at a link she provided, 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water.
That's one in six of us.
Charity: water is trying to solve that problem.
They are a non-profit organization bringing nourishing water (a commodity North Americans often take for granted) to the unfortunate in developing nations.
100% of the money raised goes directly to project costs and - likewise - funds sustainable clean water solutions in areas of the greatest need.
And, concerned citizens without a lot of moolah, can get involved, too.
After all, a $20 donation translates to a supply of clean water for one individual for the next twenty years.
Info: http://www.charitywater.org/getinvolved/index.htm
Yoko Ono's "Sky TV"
http://www.julianayrs.com
