Yoko Ono (b. 1933) Grapefruit. Tokyo: Wunternam Press, 4 July 1964.

Lot description

Yoko Ono (b. 1933) Grapefruit. Tokyo: Wunternam Press, 4 July 1964. First edition, from a limited edition of 500; square format, perfect bound with limp paper covers bearing the title on the front cover; (leaves at the beginning detached; signs of thumbing and wear to covers); 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. "For many years, Yoko Ono worked on the concept of the 'space transformer.' Already in Grapefruit (1964), her seminal collection of scores, instructions, and texts, she declares that the ability to transform space is a state of mind: ' Grapefruit is a book of instructions and by doing those instructions you become a space transformer, each one of you.' [...] A later rendition of the idea of the space transformer, as an instruction, reads: "Attach a card saying SPACE TRANSFORMER to the room and/or object you wish to transform." Despite its simplicity, the instruction has an almost limitless performativity. Also, if it is acknowledged as a gift from the artist, it is one that needs to be taken care of and treasured. The piece can live on through different interpretations and repeatedly re-enacted, which gives it a lifetime that may very well exceed its author's." (Quoted from Magdalena Holdar's Fluxus as a Network of Friends, Strangers, and Things, Boston: Brill, 2023.)