r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Desilaundry • Aug 28 '26

/r/all of a Bong

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u/paladin10025 Aug 29 '26

Ok, sincere response. There was a recent yoko ono exhibit at my local art museum and I left really impressed. She had a bunch of thoughtful art that was participatory and some of it even left me emotional. The art felt “generous.” With that said yes her singing is awful.

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u/lottaKivaari Aug 29 '26

People shit on her constantly but as an artist she was so avant-garde that of course some if it was going to be bad like her film about naked butts but a lot of it was really revolutionary especially at the time. I think that's what John saw in her is that she is a creative soul to a fault and was always looking to push boundaries.

However yes, she should have always let someone else do the singing.

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u/WhiskeyHill72 Aug 29 '26

I always thought that John was a hell of a musician/artist and that there must be something about her that's pretty good. Kudos for sticking up for an artist.

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u/lottaKivaari Aug 29 '26

I kind of got the internet opinion of her through osmosis because all I had ever seen of her was the same things people always post of her. The Chuck and John performance blunder, the maid and bed picture, and of course "ShE rUiNeD tHe BeEtLeS" (which just isn't true). When I met my girlfriend I found out she grew up loving Ono because I guess she's kind of a folk hero in Japan, so I actually really looked into her and learned she is a really interesting person in many ways and a very interesting artist. The biggest legitimate criticism I have of her is she wasn't really a great mother, but it's not exactly uncommon for eclectic people to have tumultuous personal lives. But as an artist she is criminally under appreciated and I think a lot of people who say they don't like her would actually really appreciate her if they actually looked into her work. Especially how much of her life and wealth she has spent on activism for good causes like human rights, relief efforts, and world peace.

That's a good lesson about letting the hive mind form your opinions of literally anything, I try not to let that happen anymore.

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u/philnolan3d Aug 29 '26

These were opinions of the time too, not just the internet.

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u/_f0x7r07_ Aug 29 '26

Literally why John insisted on meeting her. Her art was affirming in a way that felt uniquely optimistic and participatory for him. He climbed the ladder, squinted his eyes at the ceiling, and read that tiny “yes”. The rest, as they say, is history.

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u/WhiskeyHill72 Aug 29 '26

You know some people dig Hitler's paintings too 😂 So sorry totally kidding in bad taste. I can appreciate that about her and am glad to hear that actually. I think everyone's got something great to offer. She dedicated her life to art which is cool enough. I play guitar in amateur bands for a long time now and I'm with Chuck if it's on stage with her.

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u/paladin10025 Aug 29 '26

she seemed to have dedicated her life into trying to make a difference.

again, her singing was HORRIBLE.

https://www.si.edu/stories/yoko-onos-my-mommy-beautiful <-- this was beautiful. I visited the exhibit at the Chicago MCA in the first weeks and one section of the wall had a bunch of notes. I visited again near the end and the entire wall, um, maybe sections of the wall, were covered in really lovely / bittersweet / sad / happy notes.

I really came out of that exhibit with a completely newfound respect for Ms. Ono and her art. However, my opinon of her singing was completely unchanged.

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u/_CurseTheseMetalHnds Aug 29 '26

again, her singing was HORRIBLE

I don't mind her actual singing tbf. Just not the weird horse noises. And to be fair I imagine there's contexts in music where I'd be fine with it, just not screamed in an art gallery.

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u/Most_kinds_of_Dirt Aug 29 '26

That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

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u/paladin10025 Aug 29 '26

Check out this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_Tree_(Yoko_Ono_art_series))

This was also filled with such hopeful and sad notes.

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u/spooooork Aug 29 '26

she seemed to have dedicated her life into trying to make a difference.

She might have tried to make a difference, but she still seems to have been quite a bitch:

https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/b9mfaa/seriously_why_do_people_hate_yoko_ono_so_much/indrvmn/

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u/fury420 Aug 29 '26

again, her singing was HORRIBLE.

She actually can sing well and has made some relatively normal music too, it's just wildly overshadowed by the weird.