CASE STUDY: ARTIST ADVISORYARTIST: Yoko Ono
INSTITUTION: Museum of Modern Art
TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER: Feral File
PROJECT LAUNCH DATE: February 2024
Background
In February 2024, MoMA curated a group exhibition on the Feral File platform titled “SOUND MACHINES”, which included seven artists exploring the world of sound through emerging technologies. The works crossed optical and aural domains, creating new interfaces between sound, technology, and art. Yoko Ono was invited by MoMA curators Paola Antonelli and Michelle Kuo to participate in the exhibition, which marks her first ever blockchain-based artwork. Subsequent conversations centered around how to bring one of her earlier Fluxus works onto the blockchain in an authentic and innovative way.
The Concept
Much of Yoko Ono’s work has been instruction-based, commencing with her 1964 publication Grapefruit, which is commonly cited as an early example of conceptual art. In 1996, Ono’s work SOUND PIECE V transformed the traditional musical score into a simple written prompt which, by inviting viewers to record the sound of their friends laughing, revealed the ordinary to be extraordinary. As Ono said of her instructions, “I like the idea of doing something that stimulates people’s minds and, of course, they can use their own creativity to think about it.”
For her participation in SOUND MACHINES, Ono reconceived SOUND PIECE V as a digital, on-chain interactive work. Two versions were made: in one, collectors could purchase their own edition of the artwork that enabled them to record their own laughter on the blockchain, making it entirely unique to them. In the other, the public was invited to participate free-of-charge to add their own recordings and successively build an ever-evolving public archive of sound. Ono encourages any and all to contribute their own recording to this archive of laughter, which will remain freely accessible in perpetuity.
The Result
To realize this ambitious project and interactivity, Feral File engineers architected and built the Ethereum blockchain-based recording and archival mechanisms to the specifications required by Yoko Ono and MoMA.
The exhibition was extremely successful - the work was praised by both blockchain art enthusiasts and traditional art collectors alike. All thirty editions sold out in less than twenty four hours and the archive of laughter continues to be built over time.
Whitney’s Participation
As a member of the Feral File team, I supported artist relations, project and artwork architecture, artwork and exhibition launch, and ongoing exhibition management.
Read More:
View the “SOUND MACHINES” exhibition on the Feral File website.
The Art Newspaper, “Mail art meets NFTs for all in the ‘MoMA Postcard’ programme” by Clara Che Wei Peh, 24 November 2023.
Right Click Save, “HELLO WORLD | The MoMA Postcard” by Madeleine Pierpont, 3 October 2023.
NFT Now, “Exclusive Interview: Inside MoMA’s Web3 Embrace With Postcard Project” by Arthur Parkhouse, 3 October 2023.
Yoko Ono, Sound Machine V (1996/2024)